MotoGP Race Results From The German Grand Prix At Sachsenring

Marc Marquez dominated Sunday's German Grand Prix, leading all but five laps from pole position on a dry track to take his second victory of the season. The win catapulted the 24-year-old Repsol Honda rider into the top spot in the MotoGP points standings as the 18-race world championship—nine rounds down, nine to go—begins its one-month summer break.

Marquez dedicated his triumph to the late Nicky Hayden. "Something special that I promised myself, the first victory after Hayden's accident is for him, for all his family, because he was a very good friend." Marquez and Hayden teamed together last year at Phillip Island in Australia when the 35-year-old Kentuckian stepped in for the injured Dani Pedrosa.

For the sixth time this season, a MotoGP rookie riding a Tech 3 Yamaha delivered a top-five finish. Today, Jonas Folger, not fellow premier-class newcomer Johann Zarco, took top honors. Folger, a narrow second to Zarco in last year’s Moto2 race at the Sachsenring, even led five laps after starting fifth. Marquez’s margin of victory over Folger was 3.310 seconds.

“I don’t know what to say,” Folger exclaimed. “I never expected this today. I couldn’t believe we made a gap to the rest [of the field]. I made a big mistake in Turn 1 and lost a second to Marc. I put in my strong mapping and tried to recover but I burned the tire. And then he was gone. Many times, I was close to crashing. I said, ‘Stop. Stay calm and finish in second.’”

Dani Pedrosa hung with Marquez from third on the grid for four laps before Folger pushed past. "The first two laps were amazing," Pedrosa said. "I had huge grip and was very fast. Marc was pushing, but I had a good feeling. I started to have a lot of spin on the left side [10 of 13 corners turn left]. Folger surprised me. I didn't expect him to be so strong until the end.

“I tried everything I knew, but I couldn’t find better grip. So I understood I couldn’t be as fast as them. I tried to manage my position. It was important to finish today.” Like the majority of the field, Pedrosa chose Michelin’s medium-compound front and rear slicks. Jorge Lorenzo (soft/soft) was the highest-profile exception. Andrea Dovizioso also opted for the soft rear.

Marquez was likewise impressed that Folger was able to apply pressure for the entire 30-lap race. “I was riding really good, but then suddenly Jonas overtook me. I said, ‘Okay, maybe with a new tire, he is strong.’ Then, we dropped the pace—I was pushing, pushing, pushing—but he was following me.” For 16 laps, the gap never exceeded 0.421 seconds.

“I said, ‘He will try for sure on the last lap,” Marquez went on. “The last five laps, I improved my time by two-tenths—I gave everything; I didn’t want to arrive at the finish with a German rider at a German circuit—and it was enough to open a small gap. He did an incredible race. I’m really happy to be leading the championship. Two races ago, I was 23 points behind.”

Marquez began the weekend fourth in the title chase, with just seven points blanketing the top three—Dovizioso, Maverick Vinales, and Valentino Rossi. The factory Ducati and Movistar Yamaha riders were never in contention for the podium today due in part to their poor qualifying positions: ninth (Rossi), 10th (Dovizioso), and 11th (Vinales).

One of seven riders able to complete at least one lap in the 1:21s (Marquez did 21, Folger 20, and Pedrosa five), Vinales made the most of his situation, steaming from 10th on the opening lap to fourth at the checkers. “We tried to recover the maximum positions,” he said, visibly disappointed. “Today was fourth. Still, we know we need to improve the bike.”

Rossi was fifth. “Difficult weekend,” he admitted. “We suffered a lot, like in other tracks this year. The race was not so bad. I kept a good pace from the beginning to the end. I’m happy if I fight for the podium. Fifth place today is good for the championship. We are just 10 points behind the top.”

After running as high as fourth with 12 laps to go, Dovizioso finished eighth behind Alvaro Bautista (Aspar Team) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), who were part of the five-rider train that included Vinales and Rossi. “I expected more,” Espargaro said about his second-best finish of the season. “I thought I could stay a little bit more close to the podium.”

Ten points now cover the top four riders—Marquez, Vinales, Dovizioso, and Rossi. At the post-race press conference, Marquez said, "Better to be five points in front than five points behind. Before Assen, I received one 'WhatsApp' from [crew chief] Santi Hernandez. He said, 'Don't worry, Marc. You will be leading the championship by summertime.'

“I said, ‘Okay, what did you drink?’ because we were very far. But, in the end, we must trust, we need to believe in our job, we need to keep pushing like we did. We know everything is very tight—five riders between 26 points. Everything like start from zero, but we are there.” Spoken like a five-time world champion.