Marc Marquez continued his incredible record at the Sachsenring by taking his eighth consecutive world championship victory in Sunday’s MotoGP race, albeit after a serious challenge from rookie Jonas Folger.
Marquez extended his pole record at the Sachsenring on Saturday after leading qualifying, and stayed out front in the early part of the race with Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa in tow.
After picking off Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo, Folger managed to fight past both Honda riders on his satellite Yamaha bike, hitting the head of the pack six laps in.
Folger’s hopes of a fairytale victory on home soil were dashed when he ran deep at Turn 1 five laps later, allowing Marquez to move back past.
The German rider stayed within sight of the leader through the remainder of the race and applied pressure, only for his tires to fade late on and leave him to settle for P2 at the flag.
The victory for Marquez continues his stunning record at the Sachsenring across all three rungs of the motorcycle world championship ladder, having claimed every pole and victory on offer at the track dating back to 2010 when he raced in the 125 cc class.
Marquez also moved back into the lead of the MotoGP riders’ championship with the win, running five points clear of Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales, who could only finish fourth in Germany behind Pedrosa.
Valentino Rossi finished fifth on the second factory Yamaha ahead of Alvaro Bautista and Aleix Espargaro, while previous points leader Andrea Dovizioso ailed to eighth place at the checkered flag. Johann Zarco and Cal Crutchlow completed the top 10.
MotoGP now embarks on its summer break, returning in one month’s time at Brno in the Czech Republic.