2022 German MotoGP, Sachsenring Circuit - Race Results

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• NEW 2022 MotoGP world championship standings - after Germany

Fabio Quartararo has taken back-to-back MotoGP wins with a dominant victory in the 2022 German MotoGP at Sachsenring, ahead of Johann Zarco and Jack Miller.

Meanwhile, a costly early mistake for pole starter Francesco Bagnaia may well have extinguished the Italian's already slim title hopes.

Bagnaia was beaten into turn 1 by Quartararo, then attacked the Frenchman next time around. However the Frenchman - eager to keep his M1 in fresh air - cut straight back under the Ducati.

Disaster, in the form of a fourth DNF of the season, then struck on the exit of the same tight corner several laps later, when the rear of Bagnaia's Desmosedici slid away as he applied the power.

That mistake gave reigning champion Quartararo a 1.3s early lead over Pramac Ducati's Zarco, with the Aprilias of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales settling into third and fourth.

30-laps around the Sachsenring always tortures the left side of the rear tyre and this afternoon's scorching temperatures (35 air, 52 ground) heightened tyre durability concerns even further.

With Quartararo among only three riders (along with Vinales and Pol Espargaro) to choose the medium instead of hard rear tyre, all eyes were on any signs of late-race weakness from the Yamaha rider.

But Quartararo kept a solid pace to the end and now holds a 34-point title lead, with Zarco likewise safe in second, while Aleix Espargaro and Miller fought over third.

Vinales had shadowed Espargaro for the opening half of the race, with the RS-GPs then being caught by Miller, who was recovering from a long-lap penalty for falling under yellow flags on Saturday.

The Australian was gifted fourth when the rear ride-height device on Vinales' Aprilia became jammed in the compressed position, forcing the Spaniard to retire with 13 laps to go.

Miller lunged inside Espargaro at turn one with 8 laps to go, but ran wide... Then repeated the move, with the same unsuccessful outcome, a few laps later, by which time both were coming under threat from Luca Marini, who was closing rapidly on the squabbling duo ahead with 5 laps to go.

However, just before Marini could arrive, Miller was handed third place when Espargaro ran wide into turn 1.

Zarco's team-mate Jorge Martin (riding for the first time since hand surgery) completed the top six behind Marini, with Brad Binder lead KTM in seventh, rookie Fabio di Giannantonio eighth and Miguel Oliveira ninth.

Enea Bastianini’s crew chief Alberto Giribuola was absent this weekend due to Covid, with Gresini technical coordinator Sergio Verbena standing in as his replacement. Starting just 17th on the grid, and the only rider to fit the medium instead of hard front tyre, the triple 2022 race winner finished tenth.

Suzuki's Joan Mir fell moments after Bagnaia, ending his hopes of a recovery from twelfth.

Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Rins returned this weekend after their turn one accident in Barcelona. Rins, who suffered a wrist fracture, was forced to withdraw from the event after FP3, while Nakagami continued despite hitting his injured shoulder on Saturday.

Nakagami's punishing weekend ended in an early race fall, with team-mate Alex Marquez and Repsol Honda's Pol Espargaro also on the DNF list.

Quartararo is the first new winner of the German MotoGP since 2013, with Marc Marquez - unbeaten at the Sachsenring since the 125cc class in 2011 - absent as he continues to recover from a fourth operation on his right arm.

Marquez was again replaced by HRC test rider and home Sachsenring hero Stefan Bradl.

Sachsenring is the shortest circuit on the MotoGP calendar, being just 3.7km in length and with a longest straight of 700m. The circuit also has a heavy anti-clockwise bias of 10 left-hand corners, compared to 3 right turns, one of them being the infamous ‘waterfall’ downhill plunge at Turn 11.

Sachsenring also marked the midway point of the planned 20-round world championship season, with round 11 taking place at Assen next weekend.