Dear MotoGP fans,
Friday’s practice at the Sachsenring ended as many expected: with Marc Marquez at the top. The “King of the Ring” was 0.166 seconds faster than Raul Fernandez on the Aprilia, but even more decisive was his nearly three-tenths of a second lead over Fabio Di Giannantonio in third place (see results).
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Looking at the result, one might think the situation is clear. But Marquez says after the practice: “Today, the one with more pace was Di Giannantonio.”
“Diggia” also made a very strong impression on me throughout Friday. That’s why I asked him if, after this practice day, he feels he can fight Marc Marquez for the win.
His answer surprised me. “It’s not about fighting Marc. It’s about improving myself and trying to deliver maximum performance,” says Di Giannantonio. “Marc is always one step ahead here.”
Marc Marquez was, of course, confronted with “Diggia’s” statements that he still sees him as the big favorite. “Yes, he doesn’t like the pressure, you know,” says Marc Marquez about Di Giannantonio pushing the favorite role away from himself.
“It’s always like that at the Sachsenring,” continues the Ducati factory rider. “If I win, that’s the normal thing. If I lose, and losing means second or third place, then that would be okay for me.”
“That means then it’s news. So, let’s see. But at the moment, I’m not the fastest in race pace,” emphasizes Marc Marquez, “on a single fast lap yes, but in pace I still have to improve some things.”
Since we all know he still has a trump card up his sleeve in the race, I currently expect a close duel between Marc Marquez and Di Giannantonio.
Just behind, I would already rate Alex Marquez. Physically, the Sachsenring is not as demanding as recently Assen, which makes it a bit easier for the Gresini rider.
But the question is how Alex Marquez will feel on Sunday with forecasted temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius. In practice, some laps at the limit were no problem, but the long distance is still a question mark for him.
Aprilia sees itself behind Ducati
Although Raul Fernandez set the second fastest time in qualifying, the Aprilia RS-GP is not quite as strong at the Sachsenring as recently in Assen, because the cornering speeds here are somewhat lower.
Therefore, Aprilia cannot play to its strengths. Raul Fernandez mainly worked on the electronics. He feels that he can keep up with Marc Marquez’s pace for four or five laps, but then he feels a drop in the tire performance.
Jorge Martin lost time mainly in left corners 7, 8, and 9: “We need to improve corner speed. At the moment, I don’t feel any grip on the rear wheel, and the front moves a lot at the apex.”
“So I don’t have a strong point at the moment,” sighs the championship leader. Marco Bezzecchi did good laps but lacked consistency. The qualifying attempts were physically demanding after his heavy crash in Assen.
Miller sensationally fifth
The big surprise of the day was Jack Miller’s fifth fastest time. The second-best Yamaha rider was Fabio Quartararo in 15th place, who was four tenths slower than his brand colleague.
Miller’s performance also amazes Quartararo: “Honestly, the 20.2 I did was a really fast lap for me, but still four tenths behind Jack. So, I’m really amazed by his lap.”
The Australian did this lap behind two KTM riders. That helped him a bit as a reference, but still, you have to be able to do such a time first. “Being back on Friday is one thing,” says Miller.
“I think I’m one of the best in the field, I mean, like we all are. You don’t believe you’re not, but you know what you have, what tools you have in your pocket, let’s say.”
“We are missing at least 15 to 20 hp compared to the others,” he names concrete numbers regarding the performance deficit of the new Yamaha V4 engine. But top performance is not necessary at the Sachsenring.
“You play with the throttle the whole lap here.” Yamaha also found more grip than with the old bike. Since overtaking at the Sachsenring is difficult, Miller will surely fight like a lion for a top-10 result in the races.
Why Bagnaia failed to make the top 10
While Miller is the hero of the day, Francesco Bagnaia with 13th place is one of the losers of the day. He lost seven tenths to his teammate Marc Marquez in the qualifying attempt.
What happened with #63? “What happened is that my problem since the start of the season is rear wheel grip. And this track, sectors 2 and 3, need a lot of support from the rear tire. I have zero, completely zero.”
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“I feel like I’m on ice, I feel like I’m flat-tracking. So it’s very difficult to be competitive in these sectors. If you look at the data, there are Ducati riders with much more performance.”
What Acosta expects from the KTM
There were not many happy faces in the KTM camp either. Only Pedro Acosta made it directly to Q2 as ninth. Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder narrowly missed out as eleventh and twelfth.
After Assen, Acosta underwent a minor operation on his right wrist to relieve numbness from carpal tunnel syndrome. The scar still hindered him somewhat while riding.
“Today I felt that I didn’t brake at the usual spot, because, let’s say, when I use the handlebar like that, I have a bit of pain because I brake quite differently.”
Therefore, the qualifying attempt was not optimal, but Acosta felt much better in race pace. His assessment for the races is: “If we finish between fifth and seventh place, it would be a good weekend.”
The Sachsenring does not suit Honda
Honda was the only brand that did not get a single rider into the top 10. Joan Mir sums up the situation briefly: “I had problems with grip and turning in the long corners.”
“We haven’t received any upgrades from Honda recently to improve in this area. And we have difficulties on this type of track. That’s a bit the reality.”
Honda is trying to get the optimum out of the existing package. Some tracks suit the RC213V better, others less so. And the Sachsenring is one of the tracks where it fits less well.
Why so many riders crashed in the Omega
Another topic on Friday was a total of eight crashes in the Omega across all classes. Marc Marquez also got caught there in the morning. Besides the curb on the racing line, an unfavorable bump has formed there.
“There is a big unevenness in the asphalt,” confirms Luca Marini, who describes the matter vividly: “I don’t know what happened, because that’s really a strange spot.”
The riders then changed their line through the Omega and now ride about half a meter outside the bump at this spot and no longer along the inside curb as before.
“That’s okay, it’s a compromise, and I think it’s not insanely dangerous,” says Marini. “But they have to fix it for next year. This weekend it’s impossible to repair.”
Morbidelli receives the next grid penalty
After the practice, two riders were penalized: Franco Morbidelli and Diogo Moreira. Both will be moved back three places on the starting grid on Sunday.
Moreira obstructed Marini in corners 8 and 9 at the end of the afternoon practice. Morbidelli obstructed Acosta in corner 7, 20 minutes after the start of the one-hour practice.
The penalty is especially bitter for Morbidelli because he made it into Q2 as tenth. Also, he was already in the spotlight with this penalty, as he received the same penalty for the same offense in Assen.
But this time Morbidelli denies any misconduct: “It was 39 minutes before the end of practice. I just came out of the box, I pushed, I did my job.”
“My 100 percent is slower than Pedro’s. You know, Pedro is incredibly fast. For some reason, I obstructed him. But I can assure you that I pushed 100 percent.”
The problem is tire temperature, because if you let off the throttle on the warm-up lap, the temperature in the front tire can drop suddenly and in the next corner the rider ends up on his nose.
That’s it from the practice day at the Sachsenring! Now I look forward with you to two great races. I expect Di Giannantonio could become a tough opponent for Marc Marquez.
Your
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