By Neil Morrison &
Michael GougisT
he story of the 2019 German
MotoGP wasn't just Marc
Marquez running away to
his 10th straight pole and victory
at the tight, undulating Sachsen-
ring. It was also the story of how
his competitors—who have shown
the ability to occasionally run with
and beat the five-time and defend-
ing MotoGP World Champion—
were once again unable to do so
for an entire weekend.
The factory Mission Winnow
Ducati team blew qualifying and
started deep in the field. Yamaha's
incandescent rookie star Fabio
Quartararo, recovering from arm
pump surgery, injured himself in
practice, then crashed in the race.
Suzuki's Alex Rins crashed out for
the second time in two races.
Only Maverick Viñales put
together any kind of consistent
weekend, and it paid off with sec-
ond place for the Monster Energy
Yamaha rider, although he was
never able to challenge Marquez in
the race. Literally and metaphori-
cally, the Honda rider was mostly
out of sight on a track he hasn't
lost at in a decade.MotoGP Practice & Qualifying
Quartararo pushed his
Petronas Yamaha SRT to the top
of the time sheets in the first prac-
tice session on Friday, his best lap
putting him 0.074-second quicker
than Marquez, who was swapping
back and forth between two mo-
torcycles with different frames.
Valentino Rossi was third-quick-
est on his Monster Energy Yama-
ha, ahead of Rins on the Team
Suzuki ECSTAR GSX-RR and
Viñales. Andrea Dovizioso on his
factory Mission Winnow Ducati
was ahead of Jack Miller and his
Pramac Ducati, with Andrea Ian-
none on a Gresini Aprilia ahead of
LCR Honda’s injured Takaaki Na-
kagami and Cal Crutchlow—Nak-
agami with a damaged left ankle
from Assen, where he was tak-
en out by a crashing Rossi, and
Crutchlow with a fractured tibia
from a bicycling accident on the
Wednesday prior to the race.FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (^) HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL, GERMANY
HJC Helmets Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland
10 Straight
For Marquez!
(Above) Marc Marquez (93) won at the Sachsenring, chased by Alex
Rins (42) —until Rins crashed while trying to catch up. (Below, Right)
Maverick Viñales (12) finished second in the Moto GP race after battling
Cal Crutchlow (35), who finished third. Photo by Milagro/DPPI Media.
Continued on page 52
50—Roadracing World, August 2019