Marc Marquez hopeful of a return to the rostrum at Sachsenring as MotoGP heads to Germany for round eight of the season

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The MotoGP paddock heads to the Sachsenring Circuit for round eight of the season, which comes in the form of the German Grand Prix. Marc Marquez will hope to keep his unbeaten crown at the East-German Circuit upon his return to the track.

A rider favourite, the Sachsenring Circuit offers huge challenges to the MotoGP pack – arguably one of the toughest tracks on the season schedule as it flows through the East-German landscape for 2.28 miles.

Often compared to a go-kart track due to its tight and twisty nature, the Sachsenring Circuit has 10 left-hand corners and just three right-hand corners, meaning that the left shoulder of the tyre will be screaming come to the end of Sunday’s challenging 30-lap race.

Turns four to 10 are all fast, left-hand corners before the riders change direction for the first time in around 30 seconds for the infamous ‘waterfall’ turn 11 kink, which isn’t afraid to throw riders out of the saddle. Riders either pull off monumental saves or are sent tumbling through the gravel trap due to the tough nature of the turn.

MotoGP have had a one-year absence from Germany as the circuit didn’t have a slot on the calendar due to the schedule being re-shuffled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The previous winner at Sachsenring is Marc Marquez, who has won every premier-class German Grand Prix since his debut year in 2013, with him also winning the then 125cc (now Moto3) race in 2010, before moving to Moto2 and winning the 2011 and 2012 events.

Alongside this impressive record, the Spaniard has also clocked up seven pole positions over his MotoGP career, as well as currently holding the circuit lap record of a 1:20.270 which he set in 2018.

Although the eight-time champion has struggled for results in the past races, crashing out in the last three, Marquez can always throw up a surprise so you wouldn’t bet against him pulling it out of the bag in Germany.

In a recent interview following the test off the back of the Catalan Grand Prix weekend, Marquez exclaimed how he is hopeful to have a strong weekend at his invincible territory:

“After the test day in Barcelona, the week between races went very well to recover. In this test we worked a lot and now we come to the Sachsenring where I have always enjoyed riding in the past. This year of course we arrive in a different position, but hopefully the layout should allow us to be more competitive from the physical side. Let’s see what the weekend brings.”

At the previous round in Catalunya, it was Miguel Oliviera who took glory ahead of Johann Zarco and Jack Miller in third, as the Portuguese rider strung together a set of impeccable consecutive laps as he took his first victory of the 2021 season.

One of many talking points from round seven was Valentino Rossi.

Even before the nine-time champion crashed out of the race last time out, many whispers had been circulating about his future, which have only grown stronger in his recent struggles. The 41-year-old veteran has been rumoured to call his illustrious MotoGP career a day and hang up his leathers at the end of the 2021 campaign due to a lack of pace and competitive edge aboard his SRT Yamaha machine.

His Factory Yamaha replacement and Championship leader Fabio Quartararo also made the headlines for controversially circulating the final few laps despite having a wardrobe malfunction, as the zip to his leather race-suit randomly came undone. No further details to the cause of this have been disclosed, however, the Frenchman will no doubt be double-checking his zip before heading out to the grid ahead of  Sunday’s race.

Quartararo will be hoping to keep his hot-streak of five consecutive MotoGP pole positions alive this weekend, as he bids to get back to winning ways, to extend the gap to the fierce pack behind at the summit of the MotoGP riders’ standings.

Due to the absence of a long straight, the Ducati’s may not be as strong as they were last time out in Catalunya – which will play into the hands of Championship leader Quartararo and Suzuki’s Joan Mir, who has also had an impressive run of races in recent rounds. The Frenchman’s front end feel will be key this weekend if he is to have a successful German Grand Prix this time out.

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