Practice report
MotoGP German GP
German MotoGP: Marquez quickest in FP1, Quartararo second
Marc Marquez led the opening session for the MotoGP German Grand Prix on the Honda, with championship leader Fabio Quartararo second despite a crash.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Jun 18, 2021, 10:49 AM
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This weekend’s German GP marks MotoGP’s first visit to the country since 2019 after last year’s event had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ducati’s Jack Miller set the initial benchmark with a 1m23.367s as the Italian marque comes to a track it hasn’t won at since 2008 and hasn’t stood on the podium at since 2016.
For the last 10 years Honda has been the dominant force at the Sachsenring, with Marc Marquez unbeaten across all classes at the venue since 2010.
The six-time MotoGP world champion expected on Thursday this weekend’s German GP to be his first of the season “without physical limitations”, and backed this up in the early stages of FP1 by going top with a 1m22.348s.
With the circuit featuring only three right corners where Marquez has struggled this year with his arm and shoulder, Marquez continued to improve at the top of the timesheets with a 1m21.660s.
At one stage Marquez – who is running a new aero fairing in Germany - led a Honda 1-2-3 ahead of LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami and factory teammate Pol Espargaro, though Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo would split up the Hondas in second in the latter stages.
The championship leader’s session was interrupted briefly 10 minutes in when he crashed at the Sachsen Kurve left-hander at the bottom of the hill at Turn 12.
Quartararo initially appeared to have hurt his right shoulder, but was able to re-join the action soon after.
Marquez’s lap time came under no threat through to the chequered flag, the Honda rider ending the morning 0.168 seconds clear of Quartararo.
Nakagami completed the top three ahead of the Espargaro brothers, Pol – who crashed early on at Turn 2 - leading Aprilia-mounted Aleix.
Miller was the first of the Ducati riders in sixth, 0.391s off the pace, with Alex Rins an encouraging seventh on the Suzuki as he returns to action after breaking his arm in a cycling accident in Barcelona and missing the Catalan GP.
Johann Zarco on the Pramac Ducati, world champion Joan Mir on the Suzuki and Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales completed the top 10, with Francesco Bagnaia just missing out in 11th on his Ducati ahead of Barcelona race winner Miguel Oliveira on the KTM.
Brad Binder was 1.3s off the pace in last on the sister factory KTM as he got to grip with Sachsenring on a MotoGP bike, the South African trailing Tech 3’s Iker Lecuona, who – along with teammate Danilo Petrucci in 18th – have the new KTM chassis for the first time.
Valentino Rossi was a low-key 20th on his Petronas SRT Yamaha, with teammate Franco Morbidelli 14th and sandwiched between Avintia rookies Luca Marini in 13th and Enea Bastianini in 15th.
Pramac’s Jorge Martin was the only other faller in the session, the rookie taking a tumble early on at the Sachsen Kurve on his way to 19th on the timesheets.
FP1 results:
Cla # Rider Bike Time Gap 1 93 Marc Marquez
Honda 1'21.660 2 20 Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha 1'21.828 0.168 3 30 Takaaki Nakagami
Honda 1'21.936 0.276 4 44 Pol Espargaro
Honda 1'22.010 0.350 5 41 Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia 1'22.040 0.380 6 43 Jack Miller
Ducati 1'22.051 0.391 7 42 Alex Rins
Suzuki 1'22.076 0.416 8 5 Johann Zarco
Ducati 1'22.148 0.488 9 36 Joan Mir
Suzuki 1'22.172 0.512 10 12 Maverick Viñales
Yamaha 1'22.253 0.593 11 63 Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati 1'22.260 0.600 12 88 Miguel Oliveira
KTM 1'22.324 0.664 13 10 Luca Marini
Ducati 1'22.364 0.704 14 21 Franco Morbidelli
Yamaha 1'22.381 0.721 15 23 Enea Bastianini
Ducati 1'22.477 0.817 16 73 Alex Marquez
Honda 1'22.537 0.877 17 32 Lorenzo Savadori
Aprilia 1'22.612 0.952 18 9 Danilo Petrucci
KTM 1'22.646 0.986 19 89 Jorge Martin
Ducati 1'22.678 1.018 20 46 Valentino Rossi
Yamaha 1'22.691 1.031 21 27 Iker Lecuona
KTM 1'22.728 1.068 22 33 Brad Binder
KTM 1'22.969 1.309 View full results
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