After a completely rain hit Moto3 and Moto2, the conditions were uncertain for the bigger machines to get into action at Sachsenring. The race direction declared it to be a full wet race. As soon as the lights went off Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso made off to a good start and lead the pack, as the track was getting drier lap by lap. Andrea Iannone was the first one to hit the pits, for a tyre change and was followed by most of the riders on track. Marquez, who was unable to keep up his pace was seen battling with Hector Barbera, and soon ran wide into the gravel at turn 8. As he managed to avoid a crash, he soon entered the pit lane for a change of bike with slick tyres. It turned out to be a great decision to risk it soon, as he was able to gain around 4 seconds from the race leader in the following lap.
As Dovizioso, Rossi and Redding were struggling at the front with wet tyres on a dry racing line, Marquez made steady progress at the back. As it was unable to ride with the wet tyres, Dovi and Rossi followed by a number of other riders swapped their bikes. In the meantime Marquez made very quick lap times, and found himself in the top slot with about 20 seconds in the lead. He was followed by Dovizioso, Cal Crutchlow on slicks and Scott Redding who was on the intermediates.
On the start of the penultimate lap, Cal Crutchlow made a hard overtaking maneuver on Scott Redding who was running in 2nd place. Dovizioso did the same to find himself on the podium. The final lap saw Marc Marquez take his 7th consecutive victory at Sachsenring, across all the classes. The podium was completed by Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso. They were followed by Scott Redding, Andrea Iannone, Dani Pedrosa and Jack Miller.
Valentino Rossi had a misfortune and was seen in 8th position. The factory Suzuki teammates Maverick Viñales and Alex Espargaro were on 12th and 14th place respectively. Jorge Lorenzo continued his worst form in the wets, only to finish the race at 15th place with a just single point added to his championship standings.
At the end of the German Grand Prix Marc Marquez leads the Championship with 170 points. He's followed by the Yamaha teammates, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi with 122 and 111 points respectively. The fight for the championship will be continued at the Austrian GP, after a short mid season break. Stay tuned for more updates.
By: Aravind Rb