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Marc Marquez claimed his first MotoGP victory since November 2019. After a year of injury complications, he stormed to victory in MotoGP’s German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring as the Spaniard remains invincible around the East-German circuit.
The twisty Sachsenring played host to the eighth round of the 2021 MotoGP championship, where Marc Marquez took the glory after a thrilling race-long cat and mouse chase from Miguel Oliviera who finished second with Championship leader Fabio Quartararo finishing third.
Starting Grid
Starting from pole position was Johann Zarco who snatched Fabio Quartararo’s sixth consecutive pole away from his compatriot in the final stages of Saturday’s qualifying session setting a 1:20.236 despite a late crash. The French duo qualified ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro who rounded off the front row of the grid and clinched the Italian manufacturer’s first-ever MotoGP front row.
On the second row, Jack Miller lined up in fourth ahead of Marc Marquez and winner last time out Miguel Oliviera. Miller’s qualifying performance was hindered by him losing time to the riders ahead in the long, sweeping sector three and was unable to make up lost time in the other three sectors.
Jorge Martin qualified seventh, fronting the third row of the grid alongside Pol Espargaro and LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami.
Maverick Vinales qualified in 21st, his worst ever MotoGP starting position, as pressure continues to mount on the Spaniard if there’s any chance of him keeping his Factory Yamaha ride heading into 2022.
As It Happened
Off the line, it was Marc Marquez and Quartararo who got the best launch before they were swallowed up by Aleix Espargaro and the Ducati’s of Miller and Zarco.
Aleix Espargaro navigated the tight and tricky turn one as he led out of the ‘Coca-Cola Kurve’ ahead of Marc Marquez and Zarco.
At the end of lap one, Marquez took the lead from Espargaro at the final corner as he made a late lunge up the inside of his fellow Spaniard.
Leader Marquez started to pull away, however, Espargaro used the drive of his Aprilia down the ‘waterfall’ to set up a move back into the lead through the ‘Sachsen-Kurve’ at turn 12, but Marquez made a swift reply and snatched the lead of the race straight back.
Jack Miller was the next rider to make a move as he promoted himself into fourth place past Quartararo at turn one on lap three. The Championship leader lost another position a lap later as Oliviera made a move on the Frenchman at turn 13.
On lap five, Alex Marquez was involved in an incident at turn one as he lost the front and collected Tech3’s Danilo Petrucci which saw both riders retire from the race. The next lap, Lorenzo Savadori crashed out of the race at turn ten making it three retirements at that point of the race.
Miller made another move at turn one, where his Factory Ducati had been so planted over the crest of the hill under braking all weekend long, as the Australian leapfrogged Zarco into the podium places.
On lap nine, the trackside marshals frantically started to wave their rain flags as a light sprinkle of rain was in the air, giving the riders the opportunity to swap to the wet set-up bikes if they so wished.
Leader Marquez was taking no prisoners by pulling the pin as a battle ensued behind. The Spaniard formed a sizable gap on the pack behind which was extended at a rate of knots.
On lap 10, Miller moved into second place as he overtook Aleix Espargaro at turn one. The Aprilia man’s problems continued as Miguel Oliviera secured third at turn two. Later that lap, Quartararo jumped up to fifth past Zarco at turn 13.
Oliviera was alert to slot past Miller, again at turn 12, as he made a quest to catch up to Marquez out in front – who was continuing to pull away. The Portuguese KTM rider broke free of Miller and went on to set the fastest lap of the race on lap 13 in a desperate attempt to close in on the leading Spaniard.
Quartararo promoted himself up to fourth as he slotted his Factory Yamaha machine up the inside of Aleix Espargaro at the ‘Sachsen-Kurve.’
Johann Zarco’s struggles continued as he dropped to seventh after Brad Binder managed to find a way past the Pramac Ducati rider at turn one.
Quartararo jumped back into the podium places on lap 19, as he dived up the inside of Miller at turn 12 – a corner that became a popular overtaking hotspot throughout the race.
Oliviera continued to close in on Marquez, the gap between the two was dropping by around a tenth a lap with 10 laps to go.
On lap 23, Binder and Aleix Espargaro embarked on a tussle as the South African rider got past at turn one, however, Espargaro fought straight back and reclaimed fifth. Binder continued to pile pressure on the Aprilia man before making the move stick at turn 13 as he set his sights on Jack Miller.
Two laps later, pole-man Zarco fell down another position. This time he lost it to Francesco Bagnaia as the Italian moved up to seventh at the final corner.
Over the final two laps, Francesco Bagnaia made a late charge as the Italian leapfrogged Espargaro into sixth on lap 29, before pouncing on his teammate’s mistake at turn nine which saw him move up to fifth.
In the end, it was Marc Marquez who took his first MotoGP victory since the 2019 Valencian Grand Prix. With this victory, he claimed his eighth consecutive victory at the Sachsenring – his 11th consecutive triumph in all classes.
Completing the podium places were Oliviera and Quartararo, who extended his Championship lead to 22 points ahead of Johann Zarco.
Rounding out the top 10 was Binder, Bagnaia, Miller, Aleix Espargaro, Zarco, Joan Mir and Pol Espargaro.
It was a day to forget in the Yamaha camp as the second-best Yamaha finish was 14th scored by Valentino Rossi. Maverick Vinales’ woes continued as he finished last in 19th narrowly behind SRT’s Franco Morbidelli.
What’s Next?
The MotoGP paddock heads straight to the historic Assen Circuit for the Dutch Grand Prix, where Fabio Quartararo will hope to further extend his gap at the summit of the Championship in the final round before the summer break.
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