Marquez Strikes Back In Germany

Jul 12, 2015
4 min read

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Marc Marquez has looked back to his old self all weekend; fastest in all of the practice sessions, his sixth consecutive pole position at the Sachsenring and now his sixth successive victory from pole in Germany.

Both factory Hondas opted to run the hard front tyre, whereas the Movistar Yamaha riders chose the asymmetric front. And this choice paid off at the start. Jorge Lorenzo swooped into the lead, gliding around the outside of both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa into turn one. The Spaniard held the RC213Vs at bay, whilst Valentino Rossi knew that he had to clear Pedrosa on the off chance his team-mate darted off into the lead of the race and the championship. The Doctor ducked under Pedrosa at turn twelve on lap five having cleared the Ducati's of Iannone and Hernandez at the start – a crucial move.

At the same moment Marquez passed Lorenzo on the inside of the final corner and took the lead. With this knowledge, Rossi knew that he had to clear Lorenzo quickly if he was to have any chance of beating the Honda. But it was a futile effort; Marquez pulled a second on Lorenzo almost immediately and extended that gap all the way to the end. So strong was his pace that he was still lapping in the 1:21s consistently into the final ten laps.

Rossi cleared Lorenzo at turn twelve on the eighth lap and dropped his team-mate instantly. Pedrosa soon followed at the first corner. Lorenzo was resigned to 4th, the pace of the asymmetric front falling away as the race wore on.

Rossi may have been unable to close in on Marquez for the lead, but now 2nd was under threat from Pedrosa. The asymmetric front tyre is two steps softer on the right side, so the wear rate will have been uneven for the Italian. The hard tyre may not have yielded as much grip but it endured the distance. This allowed Pedrosa to close in on Rossi in the closing stages and take 2nd away from him at turn twelve with fourteen laps to go. Rossi reined the Spaniard in somewhat in the final ten laps, but Pedrosa pulled the pin and consolidated his 2nd place in remaining four tours.

Rossi now heads into the summer break with a 13 point lead over Lorenzo, with Marquez closing the gap to 65 points – all is not lost for the reigning world champion just yet.

Andrea Iannone held off an early-race challenge from the Pramac Ducati of Yonny Hernandez for 5th, with Bradley Smith making up for his difficult 9th place qualifying for 6th. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider now sits 5th in the standings on equal points with the other GP15 Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed at turn six on lap fifteen.

Cal Crutchlow was 7th, whilst team-mate Jack Miller responded to the criticism received this week for his riding style by scoring a point in 15th.

Danilo Petrucci was 9th on the second Pramac bike after another solid weekend for the Italian, who has grasped the opportunity with Ducati with both hands and is really delivering.

Suzuki's weekend was one to forget. Aleix Espargaro stated on Thursday that he expected the Sachsenring to be the team's best chance of a podium finish, but that did not come to fruition and they finished a perplexing 10th and 11th. Maverick Vinales and Espargaro went toe-to-toe for much of the 30-lap contest, and it was the experienced Spaniard who prevailed. Vinales' 11th sees him into the MotoGP history books as the first rookie to score nine consecutive points finishes in their début season.

Alvaro Bautista brought home some more points for Aprilia in 13th, with new team-mate Michael Laverty finishing his first race for the team in 20th.

Part 1 of the 2015 MotoGP season has drawn to its conclusion, and we have seen some fantastic racing. It's becoming more and more likely that the title will go to either of the Yamaha riders, but Marc Marquez is not out of it quite yet. What dramas will unfold when Part 2 kicks off on August 9th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

2015 German Grand Prix: The Result

1st Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

2nd Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

3rd Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

4th Jorge Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

5th Andrea Iannone, Ducati Team

6th Bradley Smith, Monster Yamaha Tech 3

7th Cal Crutchlow, CWM LCR Honda

8th Pol Espargaro, Monster Yamaha Tech 3

9th Danilo Petrucci, Octo Pramac Racing Ducati

10th Aleix Espargaro, Team Suzuki Ecstar

11th Maverick Vinales, Team Suzuki Ecstar