MotoGP 2013: Sachsenring Results

THE TWO main MotoGP World Championship contenders were conspicuous by their absence from the Sachsenring circuit today (14 July). Both Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa had been sidelined by shoulder injuries from big accidents in free practice, leaving the battle at the front of the pack wide open.

Having started the weekend steadily it was Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez that took the initiative, setting the fastest time in qualifying to put himself on pole for the third time in his rookie season. Behind the young Spaniard it was another strong performance from Cal Crutchlow who was riding injured from a nasty low-side crash in practice, with Valentino Rossi back on the front row of the grid for the first time since 2010.

The biggest surprise off the line was Aleix Espargaro, who had already got the best ever qualifying result for a CRT machine in fifth, but rocketed to third into the first corner. Local hero Stefan Bradl also made a strong getaway, and by the exit of the penultimate corner had made his move on Valentino Rossi to lead the first lap.

Both Bradl and Rossi failed to maintain race-leading pace, however, and it was the sensational Marquez that hit the front early on to control the pace and take the victory despite the best efforts of Cal Crutchlow to close him down in the latter stages. Rossi held on to third from an ever-fading Bradl, while Alvaro Bautista and an impressive Bradley Smith rounded out the top six.

The fast-starting Espargaro eventually had to settle for eighth place, but the battle he had with factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso, and the fact that he finished higher than the second factory Ducati of Nicky Hayden, was impressive nonetheless. Despite the high attrition rate of crashes in practice and qualifying, thankfully only two riders (Bryan Starring and Yonny Hernandez) went down and neither was injured.

The championship resumes in just a week’s time at Laguna Seca in California.