The King of the Ring. Important streak for the world champion. Binder tries to close the gap and keep an eye on Martin. The 7th GP is coming!
The MotoGP™ paddock moves north for the seventh Grand Prix of the 2023 season, the Liqui Moly Grand Prix of Germany: undoubtedly the King of the Ring is Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) who boasts 11 victories on the German track and is back from the crash that took place in the race at Mugello.
PILLS: in MotoGP™ Bagnaia exalts the Italian fans
The Ducati rider puts in a top-class performance, while the fight for the podium holds many twists and turns
Pole in Portugal, podium narrowly missed at Le Mans and crash at Mugello for Marquez who has won many times at the Sachsenring starting from 2010 when he crossed the finish line with a 17 second advantage in the 125cc class. How will he behave in this 2023?
THE PATH TO REVENGE
Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) arrives at Sachsenring as leader of the standings with a 21-point margin over his closest rival. Very different situation compared to 2022 given that the Piedmontese fell during the race even finding himself 91 points behind Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™): the Frenchman is experiencing a complicated 2023.
At Mugello Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took home a podium in the Tissot Sprint: the Rimini rider didn’t score an exceptional qualifying on Saturday and partly paid for it on Sunday. 21 points behind Bagnaia, will he be able to redeem himself at the Sachsenring?
Let’s move on to KTM, which saw one of the protagonists in the Italian GP Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) while his new box mate, Jack Miller, continues to prove that he is really fast on the RC16. What could happen in Germany? KTM finished on the podium on this track and so did Miller with a different bike.
The pair of the Pramac Racing team, Jorge Martin e Johann Zarco, took great satisfaction at Mugello. Both on the podium in the home GP of Paolo Campinoti’s team, the two showed that they are really fast. The Majorcan is now third in the standings. Zarco is the only MotoGP™ rider not named Marc Marquez to have started from pole in Germany with the eight-time world champion on the grid.
Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) was really impressive at Mugello. Despite the hand injury he finished fifth in the Tissot Sprint and fourth on Sunday. Will he be able to do even better in Germany? Similar question for Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia Racing), sixth and really sore at Mugello. Aeneas Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), who is also back on track after the injury at the start of the season, returned to the top ten in the Oakley Italian GP.
Alex Márquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) crashed in the Tissot Sprint at Mugello after a contact with Binder, then also crashing on Sunday while he was third. The Spaniard has shown that he knows how to adapt to the Ducati and that he is fast. Underestimating the number 73 would be a mistake.
At the Sachsenring last year fighting for the podium we also saw Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing), excluded from Q2 in Tuscany and returning from a weekend below expectations. Maverick has potential. Miguel Oliveira (CryptoData RNF MotoGP™ Team) crashed at Mugello and will have to deal with a sore shoulder while his box mate Raul Fernandez aims to leave a mark.
So far in all races on Sunday Augusto Fernandez (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) has always scored points: fourth in France and 15th at Mugello, he will want to do more and the same goes for Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™).
Also on track in Germany Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) while Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) will not race this weekend and will not be replaced, nor will his teammate Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol).
Another forced absence for Pol Espargaro which once again in the GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team will see Jonas Folger ride his motorcycle.
Bagnaia is in an excellent moment while Bezzecchi and Binder will try to make up ground. Obviously we will have to pay close attention to Marc Márquez. Anything can happen. The eight-time world champion will be looking to end his 602-day winless streak.