Jul
10
Marquez returns to form at the Sachsenring
The Spaniard was fastest in FP1, then went on to improve upon his time in FP2 to finish the day quickest overall.
Repsol Honda Rider Marc Marquez set a fastest lap time of 1’21.621 to finish on top today, despite not yet equalling the 1’20.937 lap he set to claim pole at the German GP last year.
Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished in 2nd place on the combined sheets, 0.119 sec off Marquez’s pace. He told motogp.com that he feels much more comfortable with the 2015 M1 than he has with previous iterations, feeling faster and more consistent pretty much instantly. This certainly shows today.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) came in third, only 0.084 sec slower than Smith, leaving Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) in 4th. 5th place went to Marquez’s team mate Dani Pedrosa who put in a lap time 0.268 sec off the pace set by his Repsol Honda colleague. Honda has a good record in Germany – since the introduction of the 4-stroke MotoGP class in 2002, the Japanese manufacturer has been the most successful at the Sachsenring with 9 wins in total.
Aleix Espargaró – who is racing in a striking retro livery today celebrating 30 years of the GSX-R – came in sixth place for Team Suzuki Ecstar. He finishes just 0.007 sec quicker than Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha).
Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) complete the top ten. Meanwhile it’s all change further down the MotoGP timesheets this weekend, with three new riders lining up to do battle at the Sachsenring:
Claudio Corti replaces Stefan Bradl for Athiná Forward Racing due to his broken scaphoid. Bradl was obviously disappointed to miss the German round: “It’s really a shame to be forced to miss my home Grand Prix, but doctors have advised me not to rush the recovery in order not to jeopardize the rest of the season.”
AB Motoracing’s injured Karel Abraham has been substituted for Hiroshi Aoyama. The Japanese rider said: “It’s a strange feeling to be back again, I’m very sorry for Karel, but I’m very excited to jump on his bike.”
Michael Laverty also makes his return to MotoGP, permanently taking Marco Melandri’s ride in the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. It’s a tough challenge replacing a rider mid season, but Laverty is no stranger to the Aprilia: “I have been riding with the Aprilia test team so I am comfortable with the Aprilia RS-GP machine and the Bridgestone tyres.”
The MotoGP FP3 session is due to to start at 9:55 local time on July 11.
Lowes on a high after setting fastest Moto2 pace in Germany
The Speed Up Racing rider tops practice, with Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Mika Kallio (Italtrans Racing Team) springing a surprise to take second and third respectively.
A best lap of 1’25.027 in this morning’s opening practice session secured Sam Lowes top spot on the opening day Moto2 timesheets in Germany. Lowes came out on top of a closely contested practice in the intermediate category, with just 0.077s separating the top five. The British rider certainly had a dramatic Free Practice. He crashed out turn 1 in this afternoon’s second session and nearly suffered a second fall at the same corner towards the end of FP2, but he managed to pull off a spectacular save.
Japanese rider Nakagami was only 0.040s behind Lowes, with 2014 German Moto2 runner-up Kallio a further 0.002s behind to complete the top three. Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten) finished fourth, with the fastest home rider being Jonas Folger (AGR Team) in fifth place. Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) placed sixth on the time sheets, just ahead of current Championship leader Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport), who was seventh, despite being just 0.149s off the best pace set by Lowes.
Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) finished in eighth place. The Spaniard was keen to test his recovering right collarbone, which he broke just six days ago in a training accident at the Almeria track. He completed just two laps short of the full 29-lap race distance in FP1 and reported no pain or strength issues with the shoulder. He was fortunate not to aggravate the injury though when he crashed at turn 8 in the second session.
Randy Krummenacher (JIR Moto2) Thomas Luthi (Derendinger Racing Intewetten) complete the top 10. Simone Corsi (Athiná Forward Racing) finished 11th today, despite a strong record at the Sachsenring. He has been on the podium here for the last two years running with second in 2013 and third in 2014.
A crash from Azlan Shah (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) at the famous turn 11 with just under seven minutes of the session remaining brought out the red flag. The Malaysian’s Kalex bike came to rest in the middle of the track, and the only way to safely retrieve it was to halt the session, which got back under way after a short delay.
The Moto2 FP3 session is due to start at 10:55 local time on July 11.
Kent finishes the day on top of the Moto3 timesheets
The Leopard Racing rider shows why he’s the current championship leader on the opening day of practice for the German GP.
The Brit put in a fastest lap of 1’26.937 on the combined time sheets to put him his Honda on top at the close of play on practice day, 0.678 sec ahead of Niccolò Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) and 0.721 sec ahead of 3rd-placed Alexis Masbou (SaxoPrint RTG).
Fabio Quartararo (Estrella Galicia 0,0) came in fourth on the combined times with a 1’27.666 lap. The fastest local rider was Phillip Oettl (Schedl GP Racing), who came in fifth in front of the German crowds, 0.853 sec off the pace set by Brit Danny Kent and just 0.015 sec faster than Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in 6th.
Rounding out the top ten were Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Team Moto3), Efrén Vázquez (Leopard Racing), Andrea Locatelli (Gresini Racing Team Moto3) and Francesco Bagnaia (Mapfre Team Mahindra) respectively.
Big things were expected from Miguel Oliveira, but he unfortunately suffered a high side at turn 1 during FP1, breaking his left hand and sending him to Portugal for surgery, his weekend over. The crash has hurt him in more ways than one, given that the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider currently sits in third place in the championship and he needed valuable points in Germany to close the gap on championship leader Danny Kent.
Danny Kent told motogp.com that he saw Oliveira as a major competitor and mentioned him as one of the riders he needs to “keep an eye out for”, making Oliveira’s accident all the more painful. Oliveira is aiming to be fit to ride for round ten in Indianapolis, with team leader Niklas Ajo stating: “It was not a big crash so he was unlucky to break the bone. The doctors were positive it will recover quickly and he’ll be OK for Indy.”
This year’s Sachsenring Moto3 clash also sees two local riders joining as wild cards – Jonas Geitner for the Freudenberg Racing Team and Maximilian Kappler for SaxoPrint RTG. Kappler lives just a stone’s throw away from the circuit. He also competed in the 2014 German Moto3 race, starting from 29th on the grid to finish 21st. He said: “This year I feel much better prepared than last year. I want to have fun with it – and enjoy the cool atmosphere.”
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