Sun, Jul 13th 2013 – Marc Marquez has won the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring, picking up his second MotoGP™ victory and seventh podium finish from eight races. In the absence of both Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, the same three riders were on the podium as at the Dutch TT, with Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi finishing second and third.
The Sachsenring delivered another highly dramatic weekend, not least as numerous riders suffered crashes across the three days. Crutchlow was one of them, heading into the race with injuries to his arms, hands and left leg, but heavy impacts for World Champion Lorenzo and erstwhile championship leader Pedrosa left both on the sidelines; the Yamaha Factory Racing rider bent the titanium plate in his shoulder, while the Repsol Honda Team rider sustained a small fracture, also to the left collarbone, and was suffering from dizziness.
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.”
With both of his major rivals out of contention, Marquez – starting on his third pole position of the season – knew that a second race win (after Austin, Texas) would allow him to snatch back the advantage in the title race. A poor start saw the 20-year-old rookie drop to fourth place, but he picked off those ahead of him one by one and took the lead from home rider Stefan Bradl at the end of the sixth lap. Once Crutchlow took second, the Spaniard would manage the gap and win by 1.5 seconds.
Cal Crutchlow – “I am really happy to be on the podium again because it was a hard race in my physical condition. The two crashes in practice took a lot out of me but I dug deep and it is great to get another podium for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. I actually made a really good start but I had to roll off the throttle when Marc came towards me and that cost me a few places. The bike worked really well in the first few laps and I was able to fight my way through and I really enjoyed it. In the second half of the race the bike felt great and I was fast. I came on strong and pulled away from Valentino and I did absolutely everything I could to close down Marc. I couldn’t have done anything more but credit to him because he didn’t make a mistake, he controlled the gap to me very well and he deserved to win. I just kept on pushing and at the end second is another fantastic result. It is my fourth podium and I am not so far back in the Championship, so I can’t really ask for anything more. Now we go to Laguna trying to fight for another podium and hopefully that first win.”
Crutchlow’s own race started from second. Fighting the pain of his injuries after two large accidents on Friday, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider dispatched of Alvaro Bautista and Bradl and stole second from Valentino Rossi in a strong move at Sachsen Kurve on Lap 16. He then looked to threaten for a career-first victory, but Marquez had been looking after his tyres and was able to comfortably control the gap until the end of the 30th and final lap; nevertheless, Crutchlow becomes the first British rider since Barry Sheene in 1982 to collect four podium finishes in one season.
Having returned to winning ways at Assen two weeks ago, Rossi has now claimed consecutive rostrums. From his first front row start since the Portuguese Grand Prix of 2010, the Yamaha Factory Racing rider seized the lead as the red lights went out. He proceeded to battle with local favourite Bradl but was overhauled by eventual winner Marquez on Lap 5. Three laps later, Rossi passed the German to go second, but then fell back to the final podium spot when Crutchlow steamed ahead.
Bradl’s fourth place finish for LCR Honda MotoGP may have meant that he has still missed out on the podium, but the German has again equalled his career-best result. GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista completed the top five from eighth on the grid, while Tech 3’s Bradley Smith ended his day sixth – confirming two British riders in the top six of a race for the first time in two decades – from the impressive Aleix Espargaro; from fifth on the grid, the Power Electronics Aspar rider rode his CRT-specification bike in as high as third place before feeling the wrath of the prototypes.
Further down the order, the final points went to 13th-placed Colin Edwards (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) and the two riders who a day earlier had passed through to the Q2 shootout from Q1, with Danilo Petrucci and Claudio Corti 14th and 15th for Came IodaRacing Project and NGM Mobile Forward Racing, respectively. Two riders failed to see the end of the race, as there were crashes for both PBM’s Yonny Hernandez and Gresini’s Bryan Staring.
