Marc Márquez (P1) – “It’s obviously wonderful to celebrate my 200th Grand Prix with a win. I really wanted this victory at the Sachsenring because, as we know, it’s a track that suits me. The asphalt was slippery, but I rode well and stayed focused – something that will be key for the second half of the season. I tried to read the conditions the best I could: there was a bit of tailwind at turn one – not too strong, but enough to force me to change my braking marker – and the rain had washed away some rubber from the track. The crash marks made me concentrate even more.”
Alex Marquez (P2) – “We weren’t expecting to be here today. We headed to Germany with the idea of losing the fewest possible points to Pecco, and we’re leaving here with six more. The hand responded well even though I can’t say I’m 100% fit, but it’s surely a good sign for me, for the team and for our championship aspirations. We’ll be more or less in the same condition in Brno, even though I hope to improve some more before the summer break.”
Francesco Bagnaia (P3) – “Temperatures were lower than last year, but the conditions weren’t easy, with the wind and the reduced grip due to the rain. The front-end was particularly critical at turns 1, 12 and 13, but we managed things as best as we could. It seems like, no matter where I start, I always finish in third – and clearly, we need to change something. We’re making small steps forward, and while it’s not ideal, we recovered positions and scored important points, which is what matters most.”
Fabio Quartararo (P4) – “Tricky conditions today – and I think the grip was a bit less, though for me the conditions of the track were okay. Four riders crashed in front of us, so maybe this fourth place is not a ‘realistic representation’ of how our race went. I didn’t really feel great from the first lap to the end, so that’s also why I can’t really be too happy about today. I didn’t make any mistakes, but our lap times were not as good as I wanted them to be, and I finished quite far from the leader.”
Fermin Aldeguer (P5) – “I’m very happy as Friday started with two crashes and with a not-ideal feeling. Yesterday, due to rain, we didn’t have too much data for a dry race. We have been improving throughout the encounter, starting from the back. It took me a while to get past Marini and Binder, with the tyre pressure that was making everything more difficult. We scored valuable points and got some fresh motivation ahead of Brno.”
Luca Marini (P6) – “Really happy with my performance in the race. A lot of riders crashed when the front tyre dropped, so I was especially careful with this at Turn 1 where everyone was falling. I made a really good start and gained a lot before settling into a rhythm and trying to save myself a bit, from lap seven I had some pain. But this meant I had a lot of tyre left in the end of the race and I could overtake well. We’ve done a good job to improve the bike since Friday, we need to keep working on our one-lap speed and the first laps of a race. Now a few days to recover and we are straight back in Brno.”
Brad Binder (P7) – “From a working point of view and the weekend as a whole this was definitely a step. The main race was super-difficult, such a long race and a lot of guys going down. It was chaos out there and very tricky for the front end. I was in a group the entire time and that was hard for the tire pressure and keeping the whole thing up. It was sketchy so, even though I would have liked a much better result, it was an accomplishment to get to the line.”
Jack Miller (P8) – “It was a tricky race for everyone, so I‘m happy to have brought home some solid points. I had a decent start and managed to survive a messy first corner, then felt pretty comfortable on the bike. I was trying to catch Zarco and Quartararo early on, but around mid-race I started to struggle a bit too much. So I was kind of nursing it and doing okay until about eight laps from the end, when I switched to Map 3 — and suddenly, I started to suffer, especially on acceleration out of the last corner and through the direction change into Turn 11. It might‘ve been a combination of the map and the tyres, but from that point on, it was hard for me to do much. I tried to defend myself from Marini and Binder, but in the end, I had to let them go. Still, it‘s been a good weekend — I scored points in both the Sprint and the GP. It could have been a few more, but now it‘s time to focus on the next one.”
Alex Rins (P10) – “It was not a normal weekend for us. This GP was hard. The problems we faced on Friday continued. Today, in the first 3-4 laps of the Race, I was able to ride with Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez, but then, as soon as they started to push more, I wasn’t able to follow them. The other Yamahas don’t seem to have this problem, but I couldn’t be faster. We will continue to try to understand how we can improve this in Brno.”
Miguel Oliveira (DNF) – “I just lost the front in the last corner. Raul Fernandez had overtaken me on turn 8, I came back on the inside and slightly lost contact with Marini, but I was catching up, until the last corner, where I actually braked a little bit earlier, but I turned in like 3 degrees more and lost the front. Pretty strange crash and super early in the race, which makes it a bit disappointing, because I was curious to see what pace I could have held in the race. I feel like I lost some valuable points, especially looking at how many riders actually finished the race.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio (DNF) – “I was pushing and keeping my own pace to limit the gap to the leader and maintain the margin over the rider behind. I braked five meters later with two more degrees of lean angle, and unfortunately I had a front lock at Turn 1. It happens, but we take the positive, that is much, because we had a super weekend: all-time lap record on Friday, great Sprint on wet starting from behind, and today we did an amazing start, we were the closest to the top place. We’re learning. Anyway, I am happy with this momentum, we’ve been growing and here at Sachsenring we were very strong.”
Pedro Acosta (DNF) – “We don’t want to think about what could have been. We were four laps at the front with the guys but it was tough to follow them because we have less margin for error. I hardly made a mistake. Anyway…it was a solid weekend, always in the top five. We were just missing a little bit to put it all together. We’ll keep going. The last time we went to Brno it was quite nice for KTM so we’ll cross our fingers!”
Marco Bezzecchi (DNF) – “Unfortunately, I braked a bit too softly on turn 1 and didn’t oversteer the bike. There is a slight downhill in the middle of that turn and if you don’t go into it a bit off the rear, it pushes the front a little. And that’s exactly what happened to me. It’s a pity, because I was fast. To be honest, I didn’t expect to be so competitive on this track, but everything was going really well. Now, with the crash fresh in my mind, things seem pretty dark, but we need to take all the positive aspects into account. We are growing and doing a great job and I’m happy with our growth, both as a rider and with the bike and the entire team which is working on it. We were ahead and that’s important. This is certainly a blow, but we are strong.”
Lorenzo Savadori (DNF) – “It was a rather difficult weekend because the track was basically new to me and the constant weather changes certainly didn’t help. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake in the race and I crashed. I’m sorry and I apologise to the entire team and to Aprilia. In spite of everything, we are still satisfied and remain positive, because we tested some interesting upgrades and the bike is getting better and better.”
Johann Zarco (DNF) – “It’s a pity to end the weekend like this. After yesterday, I was aiming for a strong result, and we were fighting for good positions before the crash. Unfortunately, the front tyre didn’t reach the right temperature, and I went down. It’s a shame, because this weekend we had the feeling back and the potential to do a good job. We’ll try again next week in Brno!”
Joan Mir (DNF) – “Honestly, I don’t really know what to say. We were having a good race, riding within the limit of the tricky conditions we were experiencing out there. I was doing my race, battling cleanly and was on course for a really good result. I was closing in on Binder and could see Miller dropping back. Then I was hit by another rider, again. It is really difficult to accept when these things happen, not once but again and again.”
