Marc Marquez reigns supreme to win German GP as only 10 riders finish
Marquez's ninth MotoGP victory at the Sachsenring stretched his championship lead over brother Alex, who finished second, to 83 points while Marc's teammate Francesco Bagnaia finished third to sit 147 points behind.
Alex 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 Grand Prix 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 when they were in second place.
But the day belonged to Marc 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 had 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. Now (the second) half we still need to be super concentrated."
Marc 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 Marc slowly but surely started to stretch his lead, he was unaware of the battles for position behind him as Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio swapped places while Alex and Pedro Acosta fought for fourth place on the sweeping corners.
COMFORTABLE RHYTHM
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 Marc a tough time early in the sprint.
But the Italian was unable to push any harder to catch up to Marc, 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 Marc's 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 Alex up to second while Bagnaia suddenly found himself in the podium positions.
"I tried to give my 100 per cent. 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," said Alex, holding an ice pack on his left hand.
"Today, it was important to survive... So I'm really, really happy. It's unbelievable to be here (after surgery)."
The crashes did not end there as Trackhouse Racing's Ai Ogura 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
11 hours ago
- CNA
Early loss against France brought team together, says England coach Wiegman
ST. GALLEN, Switzerland :If England's opening loss to France at Euro 2025 was a cause for concern, coach Sarina Wiegman said being faced with a huge challenge right out of the gate might have been a blessing in disguise for the reigning champions. Wiegman's team bounced back to beat the Netherlands 4-0 in a must-win match and then thrashed tournament debutants Wales 6-1 on Sunday - and now ride a confident wave of togetherness into their quarter-final match against Sweden. "We didn't have a good start against France, but that gave us also the urgency to fix, to do things better as a team on the pitch, getting the connections better," Wiegman said. "With that loss, the urgency came. "The team really responded well on that, and now hopefully we can show that again against Sweden. We built momentum also from the France game, because that really brought us together." Sweden, who lost to England in the semi-finals at Euro 2022, were barely challenged in this year's group stage, winning all three of their games by a combined score of 8-1. England finished second in their group, which means, provided they get past Sweden in the quarters, they will avoid world champions Spain in the semi-finals. Wiegman played down the idea that England may have benefited by not winning the group. "I think that in tournaments, that's really tricky to think, 'Oh, we want to go that way, because, then we might have this and this'," Wiegman said. "If you start thinking like that, that's very tricky. You're trying to just win every game, and then see where you finish in the group, and then you play who's in front of you. "If you want to be successful in the tournament, you should be able to win every single game. So that's how we approach it." The celebratory England crowd at Arena St. Gallen on Sunday periodically broke into a song about Wiegman, who has won 14 of the 15 European Championship games she has coached. Singing to the famous 1958 tune by The Champs, every time the song loudly exclaims "Tequila!" the supporters yelled "Sarina!" "It's really nice," Wiegman said, looking slightly red-faced at the question. "Doesn't make me feel really comfortable. But yeah, they were creative, I clapped a little bit for them. I hope they can sing a lot still over the next weeks." Wiegman's team take on Sweden on Thursday in Zurich.
CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
Halftime pep talk sparks Cascarino heroics as France storm back to beat Netherlands
France forward Delphine Cascarino turned up the heat when it mattered most, scoring twice and creating another goal as her side roared back from a 2-1 deficit to thrash Netherlands 5-2 on Sunday and book a Women's Euro quarter-final clash with Germany. France took an early lead but found themselves trailing at halftime after conceding two goals. Enter Cascarino, who delivered a second-half masterclass that propelled France to victory in Group D ahead of second-placed England, who demolished Wales 6-1 to also advance. "She's a star, and at some point you have to light the fire so she can show her full potential," France coach Laurent Bonadei told reporters. "At halftime I told her she was able to do more and better, that went for the whole team too ... I liked Delphine's reaction." Cascarino took her coach at his word, setting up Marie-Antoinette Katoto to equalise in the 61st minute, and she then scored two quickfire goals herself to sink the Dutch and secure top spot in the group. "Laurent said we lacked aggression, and it was true. We were behind 2-1, we were making less effort in the defence, that was clear," Cascarino told reporters. "The Dutch were able to take advantage of our weakness, but we didn't let go. We showed aggression in the second half, and that really helped to get us over the line." France now face Germany in Basel on July 19, a prospect that does not faze the confident Cascarino despite her team's past struggles against the Germans. "When it comes to Germany, it's a very big nation," she said. "They won several trophies and they have already knocked out others, so we know it's going to be a great game, a big game and a difficult game. And we're going to try to find the cracks and to win the game."
CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
Cascarino powers France into last eight with 5-2 win over Netherlands
BASEL :An electrifying second-half performance from Delphine Cascarino fired France to a 5-2 win over the Netherlands on Sunday that secured victory in Group D at the Women's Euros and set up a quarter-final meeting with Germany in Basel on July 19. France finished the group with nine points from their three games, three ahead of England, who join them in the knockout stage for a quarter-final meeting with Sweden in Zurich on July 17 following a 6-1 win over Wales. The Dutch, champions in 2017, had their moments, but never came close to the three-goal victory they would have needed to progress as a second-half defensive collapse cost them dearly. Following a frenetic opening, Marie-Antoinette Katoto fluffed her lines in the 21st minute, spooning a first-time shot from a good position over the bar after a brilliant surging run by Oriane Jean-Francois. Katoto made amends a minute later by scrambling down the left and pulling the ball back on the edge of the box to Sandie Toletti, and she sent a bouncing drive into the bottom corner to open the scoring. The lead didn't last long, Victoria Pelova curling a brilliant equaliser after French goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin turned a shot from Chasity Grant into her path. The Dutch went ahead in the 41st minute when French defender Selma Bacha's attempted clearance only resulted in her turning the ball into her own net to send her side in 2-1 down at the break. With the French lying in second place in the group at that point, Cascarino took over, teeing up Katoto for the equaliser in the 61st minute before conjuring a moment of magic, slashing through the middle and scoring with an unstoppable shot in the 64th minute. She scored again three minutes later as a Katoto shot that hit both posts fell into her path to drill into the net and Sakina Karchaoui scored a late penalty to secure the 5-2 win and send the French through as group winners. France coach Laurent Bonadei hailed the character of his players following their comeback win. "A match is made up of two halves. We started well, then we got a bit scared," he told French TV. "At halftime, the players remobilized, they had a bit more bite. We had a great second half with some nice goals, it's the football we love, focused on attack."
