Marc Márquez wins crash-filled German MotoGP as just 10 riders complete race

The Guardian

2 days ago

Marc Márquez proved once again why he is known as the 'King of Sachsenring', as the Ducati rider won the German Grand Prix on Sunday in a race that became a test of survival with only 10 riders finishing.
Márquez's ninth MotoGP victory at the Sachsenring, in his 200th overall start, takes his season points tally to 344. He has stretched his championship lead over his brother, Álex, who finished second, to 83 points. Marc's teammate, Francesco Bagnaia, finished third and sits 147 points behind.
Álex had started fifth on the grid and took second in his 100th MotoGP start, despite still recovering from a fractured hand he suffered at the Dutch GP two weeks ago which required surgery.
Several riders crashed over the course of the race, especially at turn one – including VR46 Racing's Fabio Di Giannantonio and Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi, who both crashed out when they were in second. But the day belonged to Marc Márquez as he marked his latest triumph at his favourite hunting ground by standing on his bike and doing a jig as he passed the chequered flag – a fourth straight weekend where he has won both the sprint and the race.
'One more [win at the Sachsenring] was super special. From the beginning, I felt good, the confidence when I started the weekend was super high because we were coming from three victories in a row,' Marc said. 'We are in an incredible moment. Now we can say that half the season is done, [but] we still need to be super concentrated.'
Marc Márquez had clinched his seventh pole position of the season on Saturday before winning a wet sprint despite a mistake at the first turn, but this time he had the dream start to take the lead into turn one ahead of Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio. As he slowly but surely started to stretch his lead, the two Italians swapped places while Álex Márquez and Pedro Acosta fought for fourth on the sweeping corners. Acosta became the third rider to crash early on after Lorenzo Savadori and Miguel Oliveira, with the young Spaniard gesturing at his fallen machine in frustration.
Di Giannantonio had broken the lap record in Friday's practice and given the championship leader a tough time early in the sprint. But the Italian was unable to push any harder to catch up to Márquez Sr, who found a comfortable rhythm and pace to surge more than two seconds ahead, despite easing off the throttle on two laps to conserve his tyres.
As the lead stretched to more than three seconds, Di Giannantonio's challenge came to an end on the downhill braking zone on turn one when he lost control and crashed, with his bike tumbling across the gravel while he escaped unhurt. LCR Honda's Johann Zarco, who started second on the grid before getting pushed down the order, crashed at the same turn seconds later.
Bezzecchi had moved up to second but the Aprilia rider also bit the dust on the very next lap at turn one, moving Álex up to second while Bagnaia suddenly found himself in the podium positions. Trackhouse Racing's Ai Ogura then lost his balance on turn one and ended up taking out Honda's Joan Mir in the process, leaving only 10 of the 18 starters still standing.
'I tried to give my 100%' said Álex Marquez, holding an ice pack on his left hand. 'Also, I was a little bit lucky because [riders] sliding in front of me crashed. But this is racing, so you need to be there,Today, it was important to survive … So I'm really, really happy. It's unbelievable to be here [after surgery].'
Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo finished fourth ahead of Álex's Gresini Racing teammate, Fermin Aldeguer. The next race of the season takes place in a week's time – the Grand Prix of Czechia, with MotoGP returning to Brno after a five-year absence.