SACHSENRING: Marc Marquez heads into this weekend’s German MotoGP aiming for a little bit of history as he looks to rack up his seventh successive MotoGP win at Sachsenring.
The 26-year-old Spaniard, who leads the championship standings by 44 points, took pole and won in Germany in his first season in MotoGP back in 2013 and he has done the double in every edition since.
“We now arrive at one of my favourite tracks,” Marquez told his Honda team website.
His remarkable record at the circuit actually stretches back even further since when he has also won once in 125cc (2010) and twice in Moto2 (2011, 2012). A win on Sunday would give him the perfect 10.
“Everyone says I am the favourite because I won in the past few years, but this sport is unpredictable and everyone said the same in Austin (US Grand Prix) and I crashed,” said Marquez.
“Past results don’t mean a lot once we start on Friday so we have to keep working hard.”
Marquez has won four of the eight rounds so far in the championship as he goes in search of a sixth world title in seven years — he missed out to his then Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo in 2015.
The pair are now spearheading the Honda challenge but Lorenzo will be missing from Sachsenring after fracturing a vertabrae during practice ahead of last weekend’s Dutch GP in Assen.
In his place comes test rider Stefan Bradl. The 29-year-old German rider has already raced once this year, in Jerez where he finished 10th, and has twice finished in the top five at the Sachsenring while riding a Honda in 2012 and 2013.
The Hondas can expect a serious challenge from the Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci, who are second and third respectively in the championship standings, as well as the Yamaha of Maverick Vinales who cruised to a comfortable win in Assen. Yamaha have some concerns, however, over the form of seven-time champion Valentino Rossi who has crashed out of the last three races.
“This is not a positive time for us,” said the 40-year-old Rossi.
“The end to the race in Assen was a real shame because I felt good after the warm-up. I was fast but instead ended up with another zero.
“The good thing is that now we go straight to the Sachsenring and we can immediately work on another GP weekend.”
Ducati also announced on Thursday that Petrucci had extended his deal with the Italians until the end of next season. – AFP
