Complicated Friday opens the Repsol Honda Team’s German GP
Several big moments and a crash in the closing stages of the afternoon left Marc Marquez and the Repsol Honda Team outside the top ten and working for improvements.
Marc Marquez continued his historic Sachsenring form into day one of the German GP as he immediately started the day challenging for the top of the time sheets. Several moments during the first practice did little to upset Marquez’s speed as he ended the session in second place with a 1’20.854 – 0.152s behind Zarco.
A consistent downpour during the middle of the day made for a slower start to the afternoon session, which suffered constant interruptions due to yellow and red flags from various falls. Unfortunately, Marc Marquez would be amongst those who fell, the Repsol Honda Team losing the front on a flying lap into Turn One. This led to an unavoidable collision with Johann Zarco who was exiting pitlane. Fortunately, both riders walked away from the incident without any serious injury. Marquez finished Friday in 14th place with a best time of 1’20.854.
Saturday will see the MotoGP field battle it out for pole position, starting at 10:50 with Q1 where Marquez will fight for one of the two transfer spots.
Marc Marquez
“We have had a difficult Friday, even if it started in a good way, but we reached our limit quite soon and we need to keep working on the setup and the bike. Unfortunately, I crashed and Zarco was leaving pitlane. It was very lucky that we both escaped, I went to see Johann after to make sure he was okay. I crashed like many riders in Turn 1, I was pushing for a hot lap, and if there was anyone who could avoid the situation it was Zarco. If it’s my mistake, I always accept it. A complicated day here, tomorrow we keep trying to improve the feeling.”
Friday Practice - German Grand Prix
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bezzecchi Marco | 72 | ITA | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 1'20.271 |
| 2 | Martin Jorge | 89 | SPA | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 0.040 |
| 3 | Espargaro Aleix | 41 | SPA | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 0.081 |
| 4 | Bagnaia Francesco | 1 | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 0.100 |
| 5 | Miller Jack | 43 | AUS | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 0.149 |
| 6 | Quartararo Fabio | 20 | FRA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 0.352 |
| 7 | Marini Luca | 10 | ITA | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 0.368 |
| 8 | Bastianini Enea | 23 | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 0.386 |
| 9 | Marquez Alex | 73 | SPA | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 0.400 |
| 10 | Zarco Johann | 5 | FRA | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 0.431 |
| 11 | Binder Brad | 33 | RSA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 0.494 |
| 12 | Di Giannantonio Fabio | 49 | ITA | Team Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 0.528 |
| 13 | Fernandez Augusto | 37 | SPA | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM | 0.547 |
| 14 | Marquez Marc | 93 | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 0.583 |
| 15 | Oliveira Miguel | 88 | POR | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 0.591 |
| 16 | Vinales Maverick | 12 | SPA | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 0.614 |
| 17 | Morbidelli Franco | 21 | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 0.851 |
| 18 | Nakagami Takaaki | 30 | JPN | LCR Honda | Honda | 1.010 |
| 19 | Fernandez Raul | 25 | SPA | RNF MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 1.403 |
| 20 | Folger Jonas | 94 | GER | Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing | KTM | 2.547 |
Location Information
Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no… read more.
| Length | 3.671 kilometres / 2.281 miles |
| Width | 12 metres |
| Left corners | 10 |
| Right corners | 3 |
| Longest straight | 0.700 kilometres / 0.435 miles |
| Constructed | 1996 |
| Modified | 2001 (resurfaced in 2017) |
Lerchenstraße, 09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m19.931s (165.3km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022) |
| Race Lap | 1m21.228s (162.6km/h) Marc Marquez (Honda, 2019) |
| Race Time | 41m 01.087s (161km/h) Marc Marquez (Honda, 2015) |
| 2022 Race Winner | Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) |
| 2023 Sprint Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducati) |
