Ahead of the Germany Grand Prix at Sachsenring, Marc Marquez had finished second or better at all but one round – the American Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA).The 26-year-old Spaniard had won the previous six rounds at COTA, but crashed out while in the lead, ending his reign in Texas.Honda’s Marc Marquez
But this weekend Marquez was entering Germany with four wins in 2019 MotoGP, and two runner-up positions. He was a clear favorite.The Repsol Honda RC213V pilot had won the last nine rounds at Sachsenring across all classes (former 125cc x 1; Moto2 x2; MotoGP x6).After Sunday’s 30-lap Grand Prix, Marquez impressed once again. He went 10 for 10 in Germany, earning the win from pole. First, Marquez set an all-new lap record at Sachsenring with a 1:20.195, beating his record from 2018 (1:20.270).He led all 30 laps, only challenged by Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins and the winner last Sunday at Assen, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales.This was Marquez’s 75th victory of his Grand Prix career and his 49th win in the premier class.Yamaha’s Maverick VinalesUnfortunately, while Rins was nearly a second ahead of the field while chasing Marquez, he crashed out, helping Vinales slip into second and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow into third. Vinales and Crutchlow would hold this podium positions, respectively, to the checkered flag.Marquez finished the race 4.587 seconds ahead of Vinales, and 7.741 ahead of Crutchlow.With his win, Marquez has extended his lead over Mission Winnow Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso, who finished fifth, just ahead of his teammate Danilo Petrucci.After nine of 19 rounds, Marquez has 185 points – 58 ahead of Dovi.Speaking of his win, Marc Marquez said: “It was a perfect strategy. I didn’t have a perfect start as I ran a little deep at Turn One. After that my plan was two slow laps to warm the front tire well and then push, and it’s exactly what I did. Step by step I opened the gap and followed the plan as I needed to.“Once the gap was at three seconds, I stayed there and saved the tire and enjoyed riding. It’s a great feeling to win here again and to enter the summer break in this way. Congratulations also to my brother for his win today, it’s always really nice to win together! I want to say thank you to the Repsol Honda Team for their work in this race and the first half of the season.”Honda’s Cal CrutchlowRounding out the top 10 at 2019 Germany MotoGP were Pramac Racing Ducati’s Jack Miller (-16.836); Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir (-17.156); Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi (-19.110); Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli (-20.634); and Jorge Lorenzo’s Repsol Honda replacement rider (Lorenzo broke his back at practice last Friday for the Dutch TT) Stefan Bradl (22.708).The 2019 MotoGP Championship now takes a summer break ahead of round 11 at Brno for the Czech GP that takes place August 4, 2019.Dovizioso was once Marquez’s only threat, but now Dovi’s teammate Petrucci is closing in. Petrucci follows Dovizioso by six points. And though Rins had crashed, he also is close, the Suzuki GSX-RR pilot trailing Marquez by 84 points.Ducati’s Danilo PetrucciPhotos by Luciano Bianchetto
2019 German MotoGP Results
Pos.
Rider
Manufacturer
Nationality
Time
1
Marc Marquez
Honda
ESP
41’08.276
2
Maverick Viñales
Yamaha
ESP
41’12.836
3
Cal Crutchlow
Honda
GBR
41’16.017
4
Danilo Petrucci
Ducati
ITA
41’24.853
5
Andrea Dovizioso
Ducati
ITA
41’24.945
6
Jack Miller
Ducati
AUS
41’25.112
7
Joan Mir
Suzuki
ESP
41’25.432
8
Valentino Rossi
Yamaha
ITA
41’27.386
9
Franco Morbidelli
Yamaha
ITA
41’28.910
10
Stefan Bradl
Honda
DEU
41’30.984
11
Tito Rabat
Ducati
ESP
41’34.621
12
Pol Espargaro
KTM
ESP
41’34.850
13
Andrea Iannone
Aprilia
ITA
41’41.029
14
Takaaki Nakagami
Honda
JPN
41’41.201
15
Karel Abraham
Ducati
CZE
41’46.210
16
Hafizh Syahrin
KTM
MYS
41’49.891
17
Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati
ITA
42’04.465
18
Miguel Oliveira
KTM
PRT
42’05.653
2019 MotoGP Point Standings (after 9 of 19 rounds)