Sachsenring GP: A championship shake up
What a weekend in Germany, at the Sachsenring circuit. We saw another display of excellent racing, with Miguel Oliveira achieving his first-ever MotoGP medal, two brothers sharing the podium for the first time since 1997, and a shake-up at the top of the championship.
On Saturday, the sprint king, Jorge Martin, took the top position. A spectacular performance by Oliveira earned him 9 points and a silver medal. Pecco managed to get on the podium, taking the third-place medal and just making sure that he doesn’t let Jorge completely out of his sight. Enea came in 4th, another good performance, but yet again missing out on a podium or even a win due to not having a strong qualifying session. The surprise came in the form of Italian Pramac rider, Franco Morbidelli, showing glimpses of his former self, most likely trying to get away from the Yamaha partnership in 2025. Three hundredths of a second separated Marc Marquez and Maverick in 6th and 7th place, the former ‘king of the ring’ coming out on top, gaining 7 positions from his 13th grid start.
Race day on Sunday brought us a fantastic show. Jorge Martin led the race for the majority after overtaking Pecco. He managed to create what seemed like a small gap for most of the race. However, once the tire pressures had been managed, just after the halfway point, Pecco stepped on the gas and started to really push for the top spot, piling the pressure on the back of Jorge. It almost seems like a déjà vu moment with Jorge and Pecco; it seems he (Martin) struggles when he has someone breathing down his neck and there is a lot at stake. Pecco, with the experience and consistency, saw that Jorge was making some mistakes and just sat behind, waiting patiently for the moment. This moment came as a result of a very fast corner (turn 1) where Martin lost the front and went sliding into the gravel, watching Pecco take the lead in both the race and the championship.
Marc and Alex Marquez both shared a ‘brotherly love’ moment on the podium in 1st and 2nd. Marquez yet again came from the back of the pack to the top 3. It wasn’t easy for Marc, having been bashed around by Morbidelli trying to overtake on the inside. However, this only seemed to ‘flick the switch’ according to Marquez in parc ferme. I did in fact mutter to my granddad whilst watching the race, ‘he has woken the beast now,’ which it did seem to do, even catching up to his brother who was 2 seconds ahead.
It was a top 6 takeover for the Ducatis today, with Enea snatching another 4th place, Morbidelli in 5th, and Miguel in 6th. Franco had a great race again on Sunday. I do think this may have something to do with the recent Yamaha x Pramac announcement. I can’t see him wanting to go back to the Japanese machine after his experience at factory Yamaha. The KTMs didn’t have a great weekend, with Binder in 9th and Miller in 13th, not really getting much screen time during the race. The highest-placing Honda was Nakagami in 14th, followed by Marini taking his first point of the season. Not a complete disaster, but not exactly a reason to celebrate.
We now head into the summer break, coming back to the UK in August. Pecco will be walking down the aisle this summer with an extra spring in his step, knowing he’s number 1 again. The Gresini team will undoubtedly be partying long into the night after their double podium; seeing their Instagram posts of their celebrations always makes me smile. Team Honda and Yamaha will be trying to relax and destress over the next few weeks, possibly squeezing in some well-needed test sessions. Quartararo has come out post-race, saying the bike has basically not changed for the past 5 years, which gives us the answer about their new engine test.
On Saturday, the sprint king, Jorge Martin, took the top position. A spectacular performance by Oliveira earned him 9 points and a silver medal. Pecco managed to get on the podium, taking the third-place medal and just making sure that he doesn’t let Jorge completely out of his sight. Enea came in 4th, another good performance, but yet again missing out on a podium or even a win due to not having a strong qualifying session. The surprise came in the form of Italian Pramac rider, Franco Morbidelli, showing glimpses of his former self, most likely trying to get away from the Yamaha partnership in 2025. Three hundredths of a second separated Marc Marquez and Maverick in 6th and 7th place, the former ‘king of the ring’ coming out on top, gaining 7 positions from his 13th grid start.
Race day on Sunday brought us a fantastic show. Jorge Martin led the race for the majority after overtaking Pecco. He managed to create what seemed like a small gap for most of the race. However, once the tire pressures had been managed, just after the halfway point, Pecco stepped on the gas and started to really push for the top spot, piling the pressure on the back of Jorge. It almost seems like a déjà vu moment with Jorge and Pecco; it seems he (Martin) struggles when he has someone breathing down his neck and there is a lot at stake. Pecco, with the experience and consistency, saw that Jorge was making some mistakes and just sat behind, waiting patiently for the moment. This moment came as a result of a very fast corner (turn 1) where Martin lost the front and went sliding into the gravel, watching Pecco take the lead in both the race and the championship.
Marc and Alex Marquez both shared a ‘brotherly love’ moment on the podium in 1st and 2nd. Marquez yet again came from the back of the pack to the top 3. It wasn’t easy for Marc, having been bashed around by Morbidelli trying to overtake on the inside. However, this only seemed to ‘flick the switch’ according to Marquez in parc ferme. I did in fact mutter to my granddad whilst watching the race, ‘he has woken the beast now,’ which it did seem to do, even catching up to his brother who was 2 seconds ahead.
It was a top 6 takeover for the Ducatis today, with Enea snatching another 4th place, Morbidelli in 5th, and Miguel in 6th. Franco had a great race again on Sunday. I do think this may have something to do with the recent Yamaha x Pramac announcement. I can’t see him wanting to go back to the Japanese machine after his experience at factory Yamaha. The KTMs didn’t have a great weekend, with Binder in 9th and Miller in 13th, not really getting much screen time during the race. The highest-placing Honda was Nakagami in 14th, followed by Marini taking his first point of the season. Not a complete disaster, but not exactly a reason to celebrate.
We now head into the summer break, coming back to the UK in August. Pecco will be walking down the aisle this summer with an extra spring in his step, knowing he’s number 1 again. The Gresini team will undoubtedly be partying long into the night after their double podium; seeing their Instagram posts of their celebrations always makes me smile. Team Honda and Yamaha will be trying to relax and destress over the next few weeks, possibly squeezing in some well-needed test sessions. Quartararo has come out post-race, saying the bike has basically not changed for the past 5 years, which gives us the answer about their new engine test.