Marquez back on top at German MotoGP

Marc Marquez won his 11th consecutive German Grand Prix to mark the eight-time world champ’s comeback from an injury some thought may have ended his reign.

From the second row of the grid, the Spaniard muscled his way through to second place in the middle of the first turn behind holeshot-getter Aleix Espargaro (Gresini Aprilia), who’s third-place grid position marks Aprilia’s best in the modern era. By the time Marquez tipped his Repsol Honda into the first turn for the second time he was in front and he never looked back.

The pace was almost a second slower than the expected race times as riders looked to conserve tyre life, until rain started falling and white flags were thrown on the ninth lap to signal a flag-to-flag. And it was this point when Marquez really showed his cards for the first time all weekend. In the space of one lap he’d put a one-second gap between himself and Espargaro and, not wanting him to get away, Jack Miller (Lenovo Ducati) passed the Aprilia rider for second, but Marquez was back to his old self and was simply too good for the chasing pack.

Too good even for Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) who celebrated his third-consecutive podium after he got past Miller with 19 laps to go and set off after Marquez. Despite the pair exchanging fastest laps of the race, the Portuguese rider crossed the line 1.6s down on Marc Marquez.

A further five seconds back, championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) crossed the line in third place after fighting back from sixth early on in the race with the speed and consistency he’d showed through practice. It was a different story for Miller, who was strong all weekend but suffered rear-tyre degradation in the race, eventually finishing sixth and nine seconds behind Marquez.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) passed Miller for fourth place with three laps to go and it was the Aussie’s Ducati Lenovo teammate Pecco Bagnaia who pipped him for fifth on the last lap, after the Italian fought his way through from 10th on the grid to be the first Ducati over the line.

Aleix Espargaro’s strong start ended up a seventh-place finish ahead of pole man Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) who faded down to an eventual eighth. Reigning world champ Joan Mir (Ecstar Suzuki) again suffered from his poor qualifying result, recovering to ninth from 17th on the grid. His teammate Alex Rins made his return to racing after breaking his arm two weeks ago, he finished 11th, one pace ahead of rookie Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati), who was also making his return from injury.

Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha) was the next-best Yamaha in 14th, with teammate Franco Morbidelli and factory Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales finishing second-last and last respectively in 18th and 19th, marking the first time ever in Vinales’ premier-class career he’s finished outside of the points. Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM) and Alex Marquez (LCR Honda) went down together on lap five in what race direction deemed a racing incident and Lorenzo Savadori (Gresini Aprilia) was the only other faller.

Quartararo’s third-place takes his points tally to 131 and extends his lead to 22 points over Zarco’s 109. Miller stays in third on 100, one point ahead of his teammate Bagnaia’s 99 while Mir rounds out the top five on 85.

Australian Remy Gardner’s (Red Bull KTM) dream run in the Moto2 World Championship continues after he became the first Australian to win three consecutive races in the intermediate class, and he did it in style.

With his rookie teammate and title rival Raul Fernandez starting from pole position in what was the 200th Moto2 race, and Gardner third on the grid, Fernandez grabbed the holeshot with the Aussie in hot pursuit. The pair had nearly two seconds of clear air between them and the chasing pack to start the lap two, when Gardner eased past the Spaniard. And while Gardner has previously been content to sit behind his rookie teammate and pounce late in the race, he put the hammer down to see if Fernandez could keep his pace.

The answer came on lap five when Fernandez lost the front of his Red Bull KTM Ajo machine and crashed out, handing Gardner a 4.9s advantage back to Aron Canet (Aspar team Moto2). It was an advantage he didn’t lose, eventually crossing the line with a spectacular stand-up wheelie over six seconds clear of the Spaniard in second, who in turn was nine-tenths clear of Marco Bezzechi (Sky VR46 Racing).

The win gives Gardner a total of 164 points, which a 36-point advantage to his teammate’s 128. Bezzechi is in the third on 117, ahead of Sam Lowes (EG Marc VDS) on 86 and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini) on 73.

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) lead over the line to start the last lap of the German Moto3 Grand Prix with Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) in hot pursuit and he rode a last lap that belies his rookie experience.

While rivals behind him exceeded track limits trying to keep the Spaniard in check, Acosta shrugged off a lunge by Foggia and held his nerve until he crossed the line 0.130s clear of the CIP Green Power’s Kaito Toba and Indonesian racing Gresini’s Jeremy Alcoba. Demoted one position for exceeding track limits, it would be Foggia who celebrated on the podium instead of Alcoba.

The win gives Acosta a 55-point advantage over Sergio Garcia (90) while teammate Juame Masia, who crashed out of the German GP, sits in third on 72 points.

The series now heads to Assen this weekend for the Dutch TT before the five-week summer break.