Marquez took “a lot of risks” on way to German GP victory

Marquez scored his seventh victory across all classes at the Sachsenring, despite dropping well out of the top 10 as he struggled for pace and then went off at Turn 8.

His lack of speed on the softer of the wet-compound tyres led to him pitting early for slicks on his second bike just after half distance.

He charged back to the front, lapping upwards of 7s per lap faster than the wet-shod leaders, to take a sensational win by almost 10s.

“Honestly it was really, really difficult because on wet tyres, I think I chose the wrong [-compound] front for my riding style,” said Marquez.

“I go for the extra-soft, like the others, like Valentino and Jorge, but for me I was struggling a lot.

“Before the race you think about all the possibilities. I had a big moment on the rain tyres, but then I said ‘OK, this will be a flag to flag race’ because it was getting drier and drier.

“When I saw the minimum possibility I go in and change the bike – OK, it was early and Turn 1, Turn 3 and Turn 9 were still completely wet – because then it’s easier to take the rhythm. But I had been struggling a lot on the wrong rain tyre, and that's why I made the mistake again at Turn 8.

“OK, I took a lot of risks in the first laps, there was a very small dry line, but I began to feel the bike again and I started to push. Then when I saw I was leading the race by 20s, then those last laps were really nice.”

He now leads the championship by 48 points after title rivals Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo struggled to eighth and 15th respectively.