SACHSENRING (Germany), July 7 — Honda rider Marc Marquez tightened his grip on a possible sixth world title with a seventh consecutive victory at the German MotoGP today.
The 26-year-old Spaniard, who had earlier seen his younger brother Alex win the Moto2 race, led from start to finish to cross the line over four seconds ahead of the Yamaha of Maverick Vinales and Cal Crutchlow on another Honda.
It is Marquez’ fifth victory in nine races this season which takes him to 185 points in the championship standings, 69 clear of the Italian Andrea Dovizioso, who took fifth.
“The race went to plan, I was riding out in front and enjoying myself,” said Marquez.
“At the end I was thinking about my brother. I am very happy with this victory and very happy to have the summer break in these conditions.”
It was a ruthless performance from Marquez who has now won at each of his last 10 races at Sachsenring.
He first won here in 2010 in the 125cc race and followed that in 2011 and 2012 with wins in Moto2. He has won every MotoGP in Germany since 2013.
Vinales followed up his win in Assen last week with a feisty battle with Crutchlow which only ended when the Briton eased off near the end.
“A couple of laps to go I had a big moment with my rear tyre so I thought I would let Maverick have it,” Crutchlow said.
The Briton’s performance was all the more remarkable given that he fractured his tibia and damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in a cycling accident earlier in the week.
Championship contenders Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins both lost ground after crashing out.
Rookie Frenchman Quartararo, who was second last week in Assen, started in second place but was quickly out of contention, slipping down to sixth before sliding off on the second lap.
Rins was also running behind the leaders when he lost his front end going into a corner with 12 laps to go and slithered across the track into the sand.
Younger Marquez wins Moto2
Earlier, Alex Marquez, regained top spot in the Moto2 championship standings after charging to his fourth win of the season.
The 23-year-old started on pole but did not hit the front until the fifth lap after which he moved clear of the field, setting a new lap record of 1min 24.317sec.
The South African Brad Binder claimed his second successive second place on his KTM while local rider Marcel Schroetter collected a third podium of the season on his Kalex.
“I felt good from the beginning. My start was bad but I came back and found a good gap,” said Alex Marquez who now leads the championship with 136 points, eight clear of the Swiss Thomas Luthi.
The Italian rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta won the Moto3 race on his Honda ahead of the Spaniards Marcos Ramirez and Aron Canet.
Dalla Porta now leads the standings with 125 points, two clear of Canet.
MotoGP returns after the summer break at Brno in the Czech Republic on August 4. — AFP
