Sachsenring MotoGP race
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Current order: 1 Lorenzo; 2 Marquez; 3 Rossi; 4 Petrucci; 5 Dovizioso; 6 Bautista; 7 Vinales; 8 Zarco; 9 Pedrosa; 10 Smith; 11 Syahrin; 12 Rabat; 13 Redding; 14 Iannone; 15 Luthi; 16 Bradl; 17 Miller; 18 Abraham; 19 Simeon.
Marquez is all over Lorenzo now. Again, it's not easy to pass, but Jorge probably can't hang on for another 18 laps.
Alvaro Bautista, with another fastest lap, leaves me massively regretting the decision not to namecheck him in the race pace analysis yesterday.
Crash
Crutchlow has gone down at the final corner.
A second between second-placed Marquez and third-placed Rossi now, but Marquez has come up on Lorenzo, and it's not easy to pass at the Sachsenring.
This is not a breathless, thrill-a-minute fare like Assen was, but ther's been plenty of action so far - and there'll be plenty more to come if tyre drop-off kicks in as expected.
Great pass by Rossi on Petrucci into the first corner. On the flipside for Yamaha, the charging Bautista has gotten past Vinales.
Marquez is slowly but surely reeling in Lorenzo and breaking away from Petrucci and Rossi.
Stopwatch
Fastest lap, Alvaro Bautista, 1m21.836s. Good work.
The race pace is in the high 1m21s, which is perhaps a little cautious compared to what we saw earlier in the weekend.
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Half a second separates Lorenzo and Marquez at the moment. Petrucci is sticking with Marquez but also having to fend off Rossi.
Crash
Nakagami down and out at Turn 13.
Some passing further in the pack, too, as Dovizioso clears Vinales for sixth and Bautista (a dark horse contender going by his Friday pace) getting through on Pedrosa.
Marquez has gotten past Petrucci for second just as Lorenzo began to break away.
A replay of the incident that ruled out Espargaro and Rins. Espargaro had actually hit Iannone before taking Rins with him into the gravel. Miller was also caught up by the looks of it.
The field is not spreading out at all so far, with the top nine riders running in formation.
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Two laps down, 28 to go. Crutchlow passes Vinales into Turn 1.
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Order (top 10): 1 Lorenzo; 2 Petrucci; 3 Marquez; 4 Rossi; 5 Vinales; 6 Crutchlow; 7 Dovizioso; 8 Pedrosa; 9 Bautista; 10 Smith.
Dreadful opening lap for Suzuki then - in addition to Rins exiting, Iannone ran wide and is running down in 18th place.
Crash
Pol Espargaro and Alex Rins look to be out at Turn 3.
Petrucci forces Marquez wide to take second place. Rossi and Vinales making up the top five.
Lights green
Lights out! Great start from Jorge Lorenzo to lead into Turn 1.
Warm-up lap underway now.
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Tyres (top 10): Marquez (hard front - soft rear), Petrucci (medium - medium), Lorenzo (soft-medium), Vinales (medium - soft), Dovizioso (medium - medium), Rossi (medium - medium), Crutchlow (hard - soft), Iannone (medium - medium), Bautista (medium - medium), Pedrosa (hard - medium).
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Championship (top 10): 1 Marquez, 140; 2 Rossi, 99; 3 Vinales, 93; 4 Zarco, 81; 5 Dovizioso, 79; 6 Crutchlow, 79; 7 Lorenzo, 75; 8 Petrucci, 71; 9 Iannone, 71; 10 Miller, 55.
They probably won't be terribly representative for the race, but it's worth bringing up the results of Sunday morning warm-up anyway.
KTM's Pol Espargaro took first place, in a completely normal conditions and with a very reasonable laptime of 1m21.230s.
Given he starts 15th, this might be the highlight of KTM's weekend - although you never know:![Sachsenring MotoGP: Espargaro leads red-flagged warm-up]()
KTM's Pol Espargaro took first place, in a completely normal conditions and with a very reasonable laptime of 1m21.230s.
Given he starts 15th, this might be the highlight of KTM's weekend - although you never know:
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In Moto3 today, Jorge Martin won again, his 2018 campaign currently comprised of five victories, one 11th-place finish and three non-scores.
Martin extended his lead over main rival Marco Bezzecchi, who managed solid damage limitation by coming home in second place.
In Moto2, KTM's Brad Binder saw off Joan Mir for a long-awaited first win in the category.
Points leader Pecco Bagnaia was majorly inconvenienced by a crash for poleman Mattia Pasini and thus picked up only four points, allowing Miguel Oliveira to more than halve his advantage in the title race.
Martin extended his lead over main rival Marco Bezzecchi, who managed solid damage limitation by coming home in second place.
In Moto2, KTM's Brad Binder saw off Joan Mir for a long-awaited first win in the category.
Points leader Pecco Bagnaia was majorly inconvenienced by a crash for poleman Mattia Pasini and thus picked up only four points, allowing Miguel Oliveira to more than halve his advantage in the title race.
The big news this weekend is Dani Pedrosa announcing his decision to retire at the end of the year.
Honda rider Pedrosa has had a difficult season so far, and that was very much reflected on his frankly terrible pace on Friday.
But he's looked considerably better since, and even though he starts 10th, this will be one of the better tracks for him to chase a victory in his farewell season and leave MotoGP without a single winless campaign.
Honda rider Pedrosa has had a difficult season so far, and that was very much reflected on his frankly terrible pace on Friday.
But he's looked considerably better since, and even though he starts 10th, this will be one of the better tracks for him to chase a victory in his farewell season and leave MotoGP without a single winless campaign.
Crash
The Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro will be staying in its pit garage today, unfortunately, as the rider sustained an injury in a warm-up crash.
The team described it as “a bad thoracic trauma in the left ribs” which has required Espargaro to be taken to hospital.
Fingers crossed for a smooth, swift recovery for the affable Spaniard.
The team described it as “a bad thoracic trauma in the left ribs” which has required Espargaro to be taken to hospital.
Fingers crossed for a smooth, swift recovery for the affable Spaniard.
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Grid: 1 Marquez; 2 Petrucci; 3 Lorenzo; 4 Vinales; 5 Dovizioso; 6 Rossi; 7 Crutchlow; 8 Iannone; 9 Bautista; 10 Pedrosa; 11 Rins; 12 Nakagami; 13 Zarco; 14 Miller; 15 P Espargaro; 16 Smith; 17 Syahrin; 18 Rabat; 19 Redding; 20 Bradl; 21 Luthi; 22 Abraham; 23 Simeon.
Because what a run it is. Eight wins from pole in a row dating back to 125cc, five wins from pole in MotoGP. So, a foregone conclusion to make it nine today?
Well, not so fast. Pole, after all, didn't come easy for Marquez on Saturday. Quite the contrary, with just 0.025s separating him and Danilo Petrucci.
He is favourite on race pace, but riders are largely expecting an initial pack race before a step into the unknown in the latter stages due to tyre drop-off. These could very well be the right conditions for an upset:![Analysis: Should Marquez fear for his perfect German GP record?]()
Well, not so fast. Pole, after all, didn't come easy for Marquez on Saturday. Quite the contrary, with just 0.025s separating him and Danilo Petrucci.
He is favourite on race pace, but riders are largely expecting an initial pack race before a step into the unknown in the latter stages due to tyre drop-off. These could very well be the right conditions for an upset:
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of MotoGP's German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.
On Saturday, Marc Marquez was asked how important it was for him to preserve his streak at the track, and answered: “In the end of the year nobody will remember who won at the Sachsenring.”
He might very well have thought it on Saturday, and he might very well think it before the race today – but should there be a late-race dash for victory, it'd be a big surprise if Marquez didn't put in an extra effort to keep his remarkable run going.
On Saturday, Marc Marquez was asked how important it was for him to preserve his streak at the track, and answered: “In the end of the year nobody will remember who won at the Sachsenring.”
He might very well have thought it on Saturday, and he might very well think it before the race today – but should there be a late-race dash for victory, it'd be a big surprise if Marquez didn't put in an extra effort to keep his remarkable run going.
By: Matt Beer
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