Alex Marquez: “Injury helped me to not crash” in German MotoGP, "I was a passenger"

Riding with a recent hand fracture, Alex Marquez kept his composure and capitalised on mistakes ahead to claim an unexpected second place at the German MotoGP.

Afterwards, Marquez joked that the injury might have saved him from joining Sunday’s lengthy DNF list.

The Gresini Ducati star, who suffered a left-hand fracture at the previous Assen round, admitted he felt like a “passenger” for much of Sunday’s Sachsenring race.

But as many around him fell victim to the low grip and windy conditions, Alex kept it upright to finish a distant second behind his brother Marc.

“I think the injury helped me to not crash, honestly!” Alex told TNT Sports after the race.

“We were lucky. Two riders in front crashed. The reality was that we were P4, maybe fighting for the podium with Bez.”

Alex Marquez: "I was like a passenger!"

Starting fifth on the grid, Alex soon settled into fourth position, keeping championship rival Francesco Bagnaia at bay.

But when Fabio di Giannantonio and then Marco Bezzecchi both crashed out of second place at Turn 1, Marquez was suddenly promoted to the runner-up position, which he held onto by just 0.7s from Bagnaia.

“It is something I didn’t expect, to be on the podium,” said Marquez. “Especially because I rode not in a good mood, I was really stiff.

“I didn’t have the bike grip to turn. I was like a passenger! Another left turn, okay…”

Alex was one of just ten riders to reach the finish line, with eight crashing out.

“When I saw the result, only 10 riders finishing, I said ‘wow, today was difficult’.

“Important points for the championship. I came here to not lose a lot of points to Pecco and Marc.

“I lost a lot to Marc, but this was something in the plan, especially here at the Sachsenring.”

Alex Marquez: "The first one, we have survived"

While Marc now leads the MotoGP standings by a dominant 83 points, Alex extended his margin over Bagnaia to 64 heading into next weekend’s Brno round.

“We will see how I can recover for Brno, because it’s only three days until we are there. I will try my best.

“All the work I did at home with physios paid off, this is nice.

"These two weekends I have to survive. The first one, we have survived in a good mood.”

Brno holds fond memories for Marquez, who won at the Czech venue in 2019 on his way to the Moto2 title.

With more right-hand corners than the Sachsenring, the 29-year-old is hopeful of feeling stronger, despite still nursing his hand injury.

“I love Brno, I won there in 2019. From the first year there, I was fast.

“Hopefully at Brno it will be better with more right corners. But with the change of directions, maybe I will suffer.”