Fabio crowned king of the ’ring

Monster Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo’s unrivalled consistency has won him the German Grand Prix and has put him a full 34 points clear of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team), the effort seeing the Frenchman well on track to successfully defending his maiden MotoGP world title.

With Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) still sidelined, Quartararo celebrated his first MotoGP victory at the left-hand circuit, also giving Yamaha its first win at the Sachsenring since Valentino Rossi way back in 2009. But while it was plain sailing for Quartararo, who dominated proceedings from the first corner after nabbing the holeshot from the middle of the front row, there was plenty of drama playing out behind him.

It started with pole man Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) who had slotted in behind Quartararo, when he went down at the start of lap four to notch up his fourth DNF in 10 GPs. Teammate Jack Miller qualified sixth and had a long-lap penalty to serve, which he did on lap five, rejoining the 30-lap race in seventh place. But with a shiny new KTM contract in his pocket and plenty to prove after being dropped by Ducati, the Aussie rode a determined and mistake-free race to claw his way back onto the podium – his first since Le Mans.

Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Ducati) set about showing why Ducati had renewed his contract for 2023, making an aggressive move on Aleix Espargaro for second place early on in the race and setting about chasing down his fellow Frenchman. He never caught him, of course, but he did cement what was eventually a rather lonely second-place finish – his 10th in the premier class.

Aleix Espargaro just missed out on the podium again, though it wasn’t for a lack of trying. In fact, Miller said the only way he found a way past the Spaniard was the mistake he made in Turn 1 at the start of lap 28. The Aussie had tried at the same place on laps 23 and 26, but out-braked himself on both occasions.

It looked for some time that it may have been Aprilia teammate Maverick Vinales who was going to be battling Espargaro for the podium. He was up to fourth as early as lap six and, with better pace, was all over the rear wheel of his fellow Spaniard.

The Aprilia duo were 1.2 seconds clear of Miller at half-race distance before the Aussie started his charge, and just as Miller found his way on the back of Vinales, the Aprilia’s automatic ride-height device got stuck on, bringing an end to what would have easily been Vinales’ best-ever Aprilia result.

It meant that an intense battle for sixth between Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati), Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) and Luca Marini (VR46 Mooney Ducati) all of a sudden became an intense battle for fifth, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) joining the party towards the latter stages of the race. It was Marini who prevailed, finding some stellar late-race pace that even looked as if he might have pipped Espargaro for fourth, though that didn’t eventuate.

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Martin finished sixth ahead of Binder, Di Giannantonio and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM), with Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati) rounding out the top 10. It was a day to forget for Honda, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) joining the likes of Joan Mir (Ecstar Suzuki) and Darryn Binder (RNF Yamaha) in the kitty litter, while Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda) and Alex Marquez (LCR Honda) both retired, leaving just Stefan Bradl to see the chequered flag, albeit it out of point-scoring places in 16th and some 52 seconds behind Quartararo.

And once again Quartararo was Yamaha’s saving grace, with Franco Morbidelli (Monster Yamaha) and Andrea Dovizioso (RNF Yamaha) – both riding 2022-spec YZR-M1s – finishing 13th and 14th respectively. Aussie Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM) picked up a point in 15th.

On 172 points, Quartararo is now 34 clear of Aleix Espargaro’s (138) and 61 clear of Zarco (111). Miller’s podium elevates him two places to seventh on 81 points.

Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) stormed to a runaway victory in the 28-lap Moto2 Grand Prix with a determined ride that saw him with as much as nine seconds in hand over the chasing pack. He started strongly, picking off riders lap by lap to take the lead from pole man Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS) on lap six, and he never looked back.

Lowes, who needed runs on the board to make up for his recent poor run of form, grabbed the holeshot and looked to be making a break early, but there were riders on the move further back through the field. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was one, who had made up five places from 11th on the grid in the opening lap, but conversely title contender Aron Canet (HP40 Flexbox), who was suffering the physical effects of a recent car crash, had lost five places and found himself down in 11th.

Local man Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact) was performing well in front of his home crowd and ran in podium contention all race long. Further back, the two championship rivals Celestino Vietti (VR46 Mooney) and Ai Ogura (Team Honda Asia) were battling it out for 12th place, but with seven laps to go, the championship leader was in the gravel and Ogura was up to eighth.

Despite a brilliant late-race battle between rookie Acosta and the very experienced Lowes and Schrotter, the talented Spaniard beat Lowes to second place while the British rider held off Schrotter on what was the Marc VDS rider’s 150th GP start.

Despite the crash, Vietti retains a slim eight-point margin at the top of the standings, with 133 to Ogura’s 125. Fernandez (121) slots himself into third ahead of Canet (116), who eventually finished seventh.

Izan Guevara (GasGas Aspar) romped to a dominant win in the Moto3 Grand Prix in Germany, edging himself closer to title rival and teammate Sergio Garcia, who was pipped for second place by Dennis Foggia (Leopard Honda) on the final corner of the 27-lap race.

After some first-corner drama that took out Carlos Tatay (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP), Riccardo Rossi (Sic58 Squadra Corse) and John McPhee (Sterilgard Husqvarna Max), pole man Guevara grabbed the holeshot and never looked back, the 17-year-old going on to claim his fourth GP win.

Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgard Husqvarna Max) took an impressive fourth-place finish on his return from injury ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Honda).

Aussie Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) was having a great weekend in Sachsenring, having qualified in 11th place, latching on to the lead group in the early stages and reaching as high as seventh in the race, before crashing out on lap seven.

Garcia’s 166 points tally is now only seven clear of Guevara’s 159, with Foggia on 115. Kelso sits in 21st with 22 points.

The GP circus now turns its attention to the Netherlands and the historic Assen TT, with Round 11 of the MotoGP Championship culminating on Sunday, June 26.