Marquez started from pole position for the third time this year but was content to ease into the race at a track which is notorious for catching out riders when the tyres aren’t fully up to their optimum operating temperature. He was fourth for the first two laps, while Bradl led. On lap three he started pushing forward, moving into third place and then into second two laps later. The following lap, lap six, he grabbed the lead from Bradl, cutting inside the German at the final turn, repeating the move he had put on Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) the previous lap.
Once ahead, Marquez immediately opened a gap of four tenths and by lap 15, half distance, he was 2.3 seconds ahead of Crutchlow who had also moved passed Rossi. Marquez was riding superbly and managing his advantage, which hovered just above the two-second mark for several laps. But then in the last five laps Crutchlow started nibbling away at the gap, taking a tenth here and a tenth there. The final few laps were full of tension as the Briton edged closer still, until halfway through the final lap he was just 1.3 seconds behind. Of course, Marquez had managed the gap to perfection and wheelied across the finish line 1.559 seconds in front.
The reigning Moto2 World Champion’s second victory in the elite class puts him two points ahead of Pedrosa as the 2013 campaign moves towards its halfway point at Laguna Seca next weekend. Marquez’s 28th career GP victory was also his fourth in a row at the ultra-challenging Sachsenring: he won here on a 125 in 2010, on a Moto2 bike in 2011 and 2012 and now on a MotoGP machine.
Pedrosa was ruled out of the race after a nasty highside at the first turn during yesterday morning’s FP3 practice session. The 27-year-old was thrown high from his machine and landed heavily on his left shoulder. The impact left him with a partially fractured left collarbone and other complications, including dizziness and low blood pressure. After undergoing checks at the trackside medical facilities he was taken by helicopter to Chemnitz hospital for further examinations. The former 125 and 250 World Champion was cleared to take part in this morning’s warm-up session but shortly before the outing his blood pressure dropped once again and he began to feel dizzy once more, so the MotoGP medical staff decided he wasn’t fit to start the race.
Marc Marquez
“I am very happy with this victory. It was important to have a good race under the circumstances this weekend, without Dani and Jorge on track. I wish them a speedy recovery, because winning is important but without them the triumph isn’t quite the same. Even so, it is a good result, since we have taken the maximum points available and ridden a completely different race to those that we’ve had before. We led the race and maintained the gap to second place. It was good experience, although I perhaps prefer races that are a little more of a battle! We should be happy, and we have also held up well physically at a circuit where there is no time to rest on the bike. We’ll see how it goes in Laguna Seca, which will be a hard GP for me because I’ve never ridden there. We’ll take it step by step and remain calm whilst we get up to speed.”
Repsol Honda Press Release
