– Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio were the biggest challengers to “King of the Ring” Marc Marquez at the Sachsenring. In the sprint, they put pressure on the MotoGP superstar. Marc Marquez even thought at one point that he could settle for second place behind his brother. But in the end, there were no overtaking maneuvers.
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A Ducati three-way fight for the win was also shaping up for the Grand Prix, but Di Giannantonio botched the start, lost two positions to the Trackhouse-Aprilia duo, and came out of the first lap only in fifth place.
“Diggia’s” race did not last long. In the fourth lap, he crashed in turn 10. It was his first retirement in a Grand Prix in the first half of the season. “First mistake of the year, a shame it happened,” sighs the Italian.
“But statistically, it had to happen at some point.” What exactly caused the crash, the VR46 rider could not explain immediately after the race, as the data gave no clear indication.
“What happened, we are still trying to understand, because we looked at the data, it is exactly a photocopy of the previous lap. Really everything, the suspension, speed, lean angle, throttle movement.”
“So it is a bit strange, but you know, that is also part of the game. Sometimes you crash and don’t really know why. It is a mixture of different things.”
Interesting: Di Giannantonio switched to the new aerodynamic package for race day. However, he already had a crash in turn 8 during the warm-up and fortunately remained uninjured.
Why did he change the aerodynamics at all? “I saw that Marc and Alex used it, and I wanted to try to understand why. Actually, it was a bit better in the warm-up.”
That is why Di Giannantonio stuck with this new aerodynamic package for the Grand Prix. But isn’t it a risk to change the aerodynamics, which affect the handling, on race weekend for Sunday?
“Well, we had a really great bike on Saturday. So we thought it might not be a big gamble to try it in the warm-up. If we had thought it was not the right one, we could have gone back.”
“We would still have had a potential podium bike. So we were not particularly worried,” explains Di Giannantonio. With his early crash, Marc Marquez lost a potential challenger.
Alex Marquez talks about a small mistake
At the end of the ninth lap, pursuer Alex Marquez crashed in the Queckenberg finish curve (turn 13). From then on, Marc Marquez only had to manage his lead over the Trackhouse duo.
“I don’t know,” Alex Marquez also puzzles over his crash. “Honestly, I made a small mistake. That fourth sector was quite fast in the race and I was maybe too relaxed or too confident at that point.”
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“And that’s where I made that small mistake. It is true that the grip level was a bit lower in the race and everything was a bit trickier. I don’t know if the wind had an effect there, but it was more of a mistake.”
Did Alex Marquez feel until then that he was closer to his older brother than in the sprint and had better chances? “More or less. We were more or less at the same point as on Saturday.”
“He started quite relaxed and then built up his rhythm step by step. I left some space for the front tire so it wouldn’t overheat. I just tried to wait and save the rear tire.”
“But maybe I put too much pressure on the front tire at those two points to make up the time I lost in other places. A small mistake, but quite painful.”
Both see the bright side of the overall picture
Nevertheless, Alex Marquez is overall satisfied with his performance over the Sachsenring weekend. Because after his serious accident in Barcelona, this was an important step back into the top field.
“I am super happy with the whole weekend. I came back and was able to have a normal weekend. The last one I completed normally was Montmelo.”
“So in a normal way, doing all sessions, taking risks, building rhythm throughout the training. I am really happy about that. We are back at this speed level.”
The summer break now comes at the right time for Alex Marquez to get fully fit. In the world championship standings, the vice world champion is in ninth place with a 121-point deficit.
Di Giannantonio fell back to fifth place in the world championship due to his first GP retirement this season. However, his deficit remains manageable at 24 points. He still counts among the world championship contenders.
That is why he is overall more than satisfied with his first half of the season: “Definitely great. We are having an amazing season. Many podiums and many good results. The speed is always there, that is the most important.”
“It is not just a spark, we perform well on every track. So when you look at this big picture, I think we are having an amazing season. Also, we are only 24 points away from the world championship lead.”
“So I think this season looks great, I enjoy every moment a lot. And in the last races, I also said, wow, what a season! We really enjoy it in the box, so I see many, many positive things.”
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