The history books will show that the 2013 German Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sachsenring was more significant in terms of who didn’t ride than in terms of who did. It was a weekend of huge crashes, starting with two on Friday for Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, and a disastrous highside for Jorge Lorenzo that saw him land on the same collarbone he broke just two weeks earlier at Assen, bending the titanium plate that was holding it together.
In a repeat of the events at Assen he was immediately flown to the same hospital in Barcelona where the plate was replaced by a new one, this time with 11 screws instead of eight - and a bone graft from his hip! - to hold the shattered bone together.
The decision was then made that, in order to recuperate properly, Lorenzo would miss not only the German MotoGP but also the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in California a week later, giving works Honda rider and arch-rival Dani Pedrosa a clear shot at the title.
Then Pedrosa highsided on Saturday, also suffering what his team called a ‘minor fracture’ of the left collarbone. He missed qualifying, but was gridded 12th, pending a decision on his fitness by the circuit doctor on Sunday morning - but in the end it was low blood-pressure rather than injury that ruled him out of the race.
MOTOGP
With both of his major rivals out of contention, Pedrosa’s team mate Marc Marquez - starting from his third pole position of the season - knew that a second race win (after Austin, Texas) would allow him to snatch back the advantage in the title chase.
A poor start saw the 20-year-old rookie drop to fourth, but he picked off the riders ahead of him one by one and took the lead from local hero Stefan Bradl (Honda) at the end of lap six. Once Crutchlow moved into second, Marquez managed the gap to win by 1.5 seconds.
Crutchlow’s race started from second, fighting the pain of his injuries after two big tumbles on Friday. He dispatched Honda privateer Alvaro Bautista and Bradl before stealing second from Valentino Rossi in a strong move at Sachsen Kurve on lap 16. For a while it looked as if the satellite Yamaha rider could snatch a career-first MotoGP win, but Marquez had been riding conservatively to conserve his tyres and was able to control the gap from the front until the flag; nevertheless, Crutchlow became the first British rider to collect four podium finishes in one season since Barry Sheene in 1982.
Having returned to winning ways at Assen, Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi grabbed the lead from his first front-row start since the Portuguese Grand Prix of 2010 and battled with local favourite Bradl until Marquez passed both of them on lap five.
Three laps later the nine times World champion passed Bradl for second but was unable to stay with Crutchlow’s late charge, settling for a distant third.
Bradl’s fourth-place finish again equalled his career-best result, ahead of Honda privateer Alvaro Bautista and Crutchlow’s Tech 3 team mate Bradley Smith - putting two British riders in the top six of a premier-class Grand Prix for the first time in two decades.
An impressive Aleix Espargaro, from fifth on the grid, ran as high as third on his production-based ART before the prototype riders pushed him down to seventh, ahead of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso on the factory Ducatis.
Marquez’ win - and more particularly the absence of Pedrosa and Lorenzo – propelled him to a two-point championship lead with 138 points to his team mate’s 136; Lorenzo dropped to third, 11 points behind on 127.
RESULTS
1 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda - 41min14.653
2 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha +1.559sec
3 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha +9.620
4 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda +13.992
5 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda +21.775
6 Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha +25.080
7 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati +30.027
8 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) ART +30.324
9 Nicky Hayden (United States) Ducati +45.355
10 Michele Pirro (Italy) Ducati +47.142
POINTS after eight of 18 rounds
3 Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda – 138
2 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda – 136
3 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha – 127
4 Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha - 107
5 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha - 101
6 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati – 74
7 Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda – 64
8 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda – 58
9 Nicky Hayden (United States) Ducati – 57
10 Aleix Espargaro (Spain) ART - 52
MOTO2
Jordi Torres, riding a Suter, took his maiden career victory, becoming the fifth different rider to win in the intermediate class this year. Simone Corsi (Speed Up) beat Kalex Rider Pol Espargaro to second, championship leader Scott Redding (Kalex) finished seventh and Xavier Simeon (Kalex) fell from pole to ninth.
Espargaro grabbed the lead off the start and held the advantage until lap 19, when the consistent Torres dived through at the Sachsen Kurve. Corsi kept a watching brief on the leading duo throughout and was quick to take advantage of an opportunity to pass Espargaro for second on the final lap.
Despite being demoted to third at the death, Espargaro still finished four places ahead of championship rival Redding. Fourth was Julian Simon on a Kalex, ahead of veteran Alex de Angelis (Speed Up) who put in a late charge to pass Thomas Luthi (Suter) and Redding, in the latter’s worst result of 2013 so. Pole-position holder Xavier Simeon (Kalex) also failed to make good on his qualifying promise, finishing 12.8 seconds off the pace, behind Anthony West, who put in an outstanding ride to finish eighth after qualifying 16th.
South African Steven Odendaal (Speed Up) came home 26th, 1min03.816 behind the leader.
Redding continued to top the standings on 143 points, although Espargaro on 120 reduced the gap from 30 to 23. Espargaro’s team mate Tito Rabat lost ground, sitting on 88 after scoring only two points for 14th at the Sachsenring.
RESULTS
1 Jordi Torres (Spain) Suter - 41min19.636
2 Simone Corsi (Italian) Speed Up +2.164sec
3 Pol Espargaro (Spain) Kalex +2.494
4 Julian Simon (Spain) Kalex +5.409
5 Alex de Angelis (San Marino) Speed Up +7.546
6 Thomas Luthi (Switzerland) Suter +7.827
7 Scott Redding (Britain) Kalex +11.241
8 Anthony West (Australia) Speed Up +12.768
9 Xavier Simeon (Belgium) Kalex +12.810
10 Dominique Aegerter (Switzerland) Suter +13.119
26 Steven Odendaal (South Africa) Speed Up +1min03.816
MOTO3
KTM privateer Alex Rins led from pole, but after an entertaining battle with Maverick Viñales (also KTM-mounted) elected to yield the lead to the Spanish rider. The two continued to swop places almost every other lap until lap 24 when Rins ran wide, allowing Viñales to dive through – only for works KTM rider Luis Salom, who’d been strategically biding his time in third, to seize the advantage in an impressive double overtaking manoeuvre at Sachsen Kurve.
Rins immediately struck back passing Viñales into the final corner, which gave him three laps to hunt down the new leader. Salom was three tenths of a second ahead at the start of the last lap, but Rins dived up the inside of the penultimate corner to grab his second victory after Austin, Texas by less than a quarter of a second with Vinales just 0.016sec further back.
Mahindra’s Miguel Oliveira passed a late-charging Alex Marquez (KTM) in the closing stages for fourth, with Efren Vazquez sixth on the second Mahindra, while Jack Miller (FTR Honda) was disappointed to finish seventh after starting fifth on the grid, as was home rider Jonas Folger (Kalex KTM), who had been fourth on the grid, while South African Brad Binder (Suter Honda) got the best of a three-way dice for ninth with Arthur Sissis (KTM) and Jakub Kornfeil (Kalex KTM) that saw all three cross the line in just 0.156sec.
Salom retained his championship lead on 172 points with Viñales still second on 158, while Rins, still third, moved to within 30 points of the leader on 142.
RESULTS
1 Alex Rins (Spain) KTM – 39min34.735
2 Luis Salom (Spain) KTM +0.232sec
3 Maverick Vinales (Spain) KTM +0.248
4 Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) Mahindra +4.982
5 Alex Marquez (Spain) KTM +5.201
6 Efren Vasquez (Spain) Mahindra +5.456
7 Jack Miller (Australia) FTR Honda +10.659
8 Jonas Folger (Germany) Kalex KTM +15.593
9 Brad Binder (South Africa) Suter Honda +18.406
10 Arthur Sissis (Australia) KTM +18.447
The series will continue with the Unites States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California on 21 July.