SPANISH rookie Marc Marquez earned his second win of the season with victory at the German MotoGP at Sachsenring on Sunday to go top of the championship standings.

 

The 20-year-old hit the front early and built up his lead to claim victory with Britain’s Cal Crutchlow second and six-times world MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi third.

Marquez’s winning time was 41min 14.653sec over the 30 laps with Crutchlow 1.559s back and Rossi coming home more than nine seconds further back.

With title leaders Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo both absent after collarbone injuries, pole sitter Marquez lost ground at the start to find himself fourth by the first bend.

With title leaders Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo both absent after collarbone injuries, pole sitter Marquez lost ground at the start to find himself fourth by the first bend.

But he hit back, taking the lead from home hero Stefan Bradl along the main straight on the third lap.

Marquez, in his first MotoGP campaign, was following up his Grand Prix of the Americas victory in Texas in April. He has finished on the podium in all seven races he has finished in 2013, his retirement at the Italian MotoGP the only blot.

Victory allowed Marquez to overtake compatriot and Honda teammate Pedrosa, who was forced out after fracturing his collarbone in Saturday’s practice, to go top of the world standings with 138 points – two clear of Pedrosa.

Reigning world champion Lorenzo was ruled out of the race on Friday, when he injured the same left collarbone he broke two weeks ago and underwent surgery on Saturday in Barcelona to reinsert a supporting plate.

”I’m happy, it’s great to win, but you shouldn’t forget that both Pedrosa and Lorenzo weren’t here,” said Marquez.

”I hadn’t expected to control the race like that.”

Both Yahama Tech 3’s Crutchlow and Rossi on the Yahama factory bike complained about losing grip on their rear tyres, but the British rider produced a brave performance after twice crashing in Friday’s practice session.

”I was trying to catch him (Marquez). I had a good start, even though it might not have looked like it. I struggled a bit with the rear tyre,” said Crutchlow who raced with an injured hand.

”I am pleased with the finish position we had here, having come off the floor twice on Friday.

”It’s not been a great weekend and I admit I don’t feel great.”

Rossi, who picked up his first win for three years a fortnight ago in Assen, admitted he had hoped to finish higher.

”I am happy, but I had thought I’d do better,” said the 34-year-old.

”I had a few problems with the rear tyres – we just have to keep working hard.”

RESULTS – German MotoGP, Sachsenring

1.  Marc MARQUEZ  (Honda)  41m14.653s

2.  Cal CRUTCHLOW  (Yamaha)  +1.559s

3.  Valentino ROSSI  (Yamaha)  +9.620s

4.  Stefan BRADL  (Honda)  +13.992s

5.  Alvaro BAUTISTA  (Honda)  +21.775s

6.  Bradley SMITH  (Yamaha)  +25.080s

7.  Andrea DOVIZIOSO  (Ducati)  +30.027s

8.  Aleix ESPARGARO  (ART)  +30.324s

9.  Nicky HAYDEN  (Ducati)  +45.355s

10.  Michele PIRRO  (Ducati)  +47.142s

11.  Hector BARBERA  (FTR)  +47.824s

12.  Randy DE PUNIET  (ART)  +48.523s

13.  Colin EDWARDS  (FTR Kawasaki)  +54.428

14.  Danilo PETRUCCI  (Ioda-Suter)  +1m00.323s

15.  Claudio CORTI  (FTR Kawasaki)  +1m05.530s

16.  Michael LAVERTY  (PBM)  +1m09.153s

17.  Hiroshi AOYAMA  (FTR)  +1m15.601s

18.  Karel ABRAHAM  (ART)  +1m19.683s

19.  Lukas PESEK  (Ioda-Suter)  +1 Lap

DNF  Bryan STARING  (FTR Honda)  27 laps

DNF  Yonny HERNANDEZ  (ART)  1 lap

Dovizioso to race new MotoGP Ducati GP13 at the Sachsenring – MotoGP news

 

 

 

Andrea Dovizioso will switch to an updated version of Ducati’s Desmosedici GP13 for this weekend’s MotoGP race at the Sachsenring.

The ‘laboratory’ bike has been ridden at select weekends this year by Michele Pirro, and was first offered to the factory riders during a test at Mugello in early June – although Dovizioso was underwhelmed with its improvements and elected not to use it for the recent Dutch TT.

A three-day private test at Misano last week reassured him that the team had made tangible progress with its new bike however.

“We did a good job last week at Misano, so for the first time, Andrea will bring the ‘new’ bike for a race weekend,” team manager Vittoriano Guareschi confirmed.

“It will be very interesting to see how it works at the Sachsenring after the positive impressions he had at Misano.

“As for Nicky [Hayden], he did some good lap times at the test, and he’ll continue with the current bike.

“The Sachsenring is a track where anything can happen, including with the weather, but we head to Germany expecting to do well.”

Dovizioso, who struggled to keep pace with CRT machines and came home a lowly 10th at Assen, said he is looking forward to evaluating the new bike over a race weekend.

“I don’t know how the Sachsenring will be for us; as is the case at many tracks this year, this one will be new for me with the Ducati,” he said.

“It’s a small circuit, but it’s very complicated. I’m not crazy about it, but I’m curious to see how the Desmosedici will go there.

“We knew Assen wasn’t one of the easiest tracks for us, but we certainly didn’t ever expect all the problems we had.

“Still, we go to the Sachsenring as we always do: determined to get the best result possible.”