Why Marc Marquez “had to slow down” in Sachsenring MotoGP
Marc Marquez says he slowed during the German MotoGP after putting too much stress on his front tyre.
Officially, Marc Marquez won last Sunday’s Sachsenring MotoGP by 1.996s over Ai Ogura at the end of the 30-lap contest.
But the Trackhouse Aprilia rider clearly suspected the reigning champion, who secured a tenth MotoGP victory at the circuit, had more up his sleeve.
“You could go even faster, no, Marc?” Ogura asked before the podium.
“We don’t know!” Marc Marquez laughed. “Sachsenring is Sachsenring, in Holland you were faster than me.”
Marquez described his tactics as “going 21.4, 21.6 the whole time” to Ogura’s team-mate and third place finisher Raul Fernandez.
In the latest edition of the Inside Ducati YouTube series, Marquez is filmed telling the team why he backed off.
“At the beginning, I had to slow down a bit because I was destroying the front tyre. But after, [it was] okay… I slowed down and then pushed once more.”
As the following chart shows, Ogura was the only rider able to make an impact on Marquez’s lead.
Meanwhile, team-mate Pecco Bagnaia became trapped behind the Aprilia of Jorge Martin and finished in sixth place.
The Italian is filmed saying: “The only Ducati rider having the same issues as me was Alex [Marquez].
“He was having the same issues as me before Jerez, then they solved it.
“So I really hope this summer break will help the team to understand what to do.”
Gresini rider Alex Marquez, runner-up to brother Marc in the Sprint, crashed out of second place on lap 9.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
