MotoGP: Round #9 Repsol Honda Race Report - Sachsenring

Honda Racing Corporation Press Release:

Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez has sealed a perfect weekend in Germany after his sixth victory in a row in Sachsenring, recording a new race lap record en route to victory, following his pole position record yesterday. Teammate Dani Pedrosa also had a strong race, fending off Championship leader Valentino Rossi to take a well earned second place.

Marc and Dani both lost a position on the opening lap as Jorge Lorenzo made his way to the front. On lap four, Dani lost another position to Valentino and dropped down to 4th as Marc overtook Jorge into first. Once out front, Marc never looked back and began to open up a gap, recording a new lap record on lap ten with a time of 1’21.530 (beating Dani’s 2011 time of 1’21.846). On the following lap, Dani passed Jorge – after he’d lost a spot to Valentino – and took 3rd place and began to chase down the Italian. Dani passed Valentino on lap seventeen and tried to open a gap, but was unable to drop him. The two riders rode in tandem for several laps before Dani, with three laps remaining, set his fastest time (1’21.714) as he had one last push to secure second place.

This is the team’s first 1-2 since this race last year and the sixth successive year Marc has won from pole at the Sachsenring. Dani has had seven podium finishes from his nine starts in the MotoGP class at the Sachsenring, including four wins.

As the season reached the midway point and the teams have a chance to enjoy a Summer break, Marc has closed the gap slightly in the World Championship. Valentino remains on top with 179, Jorge second with 166, Andrea Iannone is in third with 118 and Marc is just four points off him on 114. Dani has moved up to seventh in the standings on 67.

The team will now pack up in Germany and head to Italy for a three-day test in Misano. The first two days will be on Bridgestone and the final day will be on the 2016 tyre manufacturer. They will then have two weeks holiday before flying west to the U.S.A for round ten in Indianapolis on the 9th August.

Marc Marquez  #93:

1st Championship Standing: 4th - 114 points

"I am very happy with this victory. I've been chasing it hard over the last few races. In Assen we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel; after Barcelona which was very hard, I felt good on the bike again thanks to the changes we made. We have confirmed that they worked here at this circuit, but I want to be cautious because I am aware that this circuit has always been very good for me and also for the Honda. We have to keep working, because on the laps that I did behind Lorenzo I saw that in some aspects the they were stronger than us. Let's see if we can continue improving at the Misano test next week."

Dani Pedrosa #26:

2nd Championship Standing: 7th - 67 points

"I’m so happy - above all with how we finished the race as I rode very strongly. I was under a lot of pressure from Valentino and, although it had been a while since I had last fought with him and he is very difficult to beat, I gave my all and was able to finish ahead of him. I rode much better at the end and it is the first race this season in which I kept up a good pace until the finish. It’s true that here the bike had less of a handicap than at other tracks, due to the type of circuit it is, but at test next week we have to work hard - because the both Jorge and Valentino were much closer today than in other years here. We’ll see if we can find something for the second half of the season to make us more competitive."

Race Round 9 GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Results:

1     MARQUEZ Marc     93     SPA     25     Repsol Honda Team     Honda     41'01.087

** 2     PEDROSA Dani     26     SPA     20     Repsol Honda Team     Honda     +2.226**

3     ROSSI Valentino 46     ITA     16     Movistar Yamaha MotoGP     Yamaha     +5.608

4     LORENZO Jorge     99     SPA     13     Movistar Yamaha MotoGP     Yamaha     +9.928

5     IANNONE Andrea     29     ITA     11     Ducati Team     Ducati     +20.785

6     SMITH Bradley     38     GBR     10     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha     +23.215

7     CRUTCHLOW Cal     35     GBR     9     CWM LCR Honda     Honda     +29.881

8     ESPARGARO Pol     44     SPA     8     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha     +34.953

9     PETRUCCI Danilo 9     ITA     7     Pramac Racing     Ducati     +35.875

10     ESPARGARO Aleix 41     SPA     6     Team Suzuki Ecstar     Suzuki     +37.253

11     VINALES Maverick 25     SPA     5     Team Suzuki Ecstar     Suzuki     +37.274

12     HERNANDEZ Yonny 68     COL     4     Pramac Racing     Ducati     +42.081

13     BARBERA Hector     8     SPA     3     Avintia Racing     Ducati     +48.611

14     BAUTISTA Alvaro 19     SPA     2     Aprilia Racing Team Gresini     Aprilia     +50.687

15     MILLER Jack     43     AUS     1     CWM LCR Honda     Honda     +53.769

16     HAYDEN Nicky     69     USA     0     Aspar MotoGP Team     Honda     +58.921

17     LAVERTY Eugene     50     IRE     0     Aspar MotoGP Team     Honda     +1'02.738

18     DE ANGELIS Alex 15     RSM     0     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha     +1'03.122

19     BAZ Loris     76     FRA     0     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha     +1'11.162

20     LAVERTY Michael 70     GBR     0     Aprilia Racing Team Gresini     Aprilia     1'15.910

21     CORTI Claudio     71     ITA     0     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha     DNF

22     DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4     ITA     0     Ducati Team     Ducati     DNF

23     AOYAMA Hiroshi     7     JPN     0     AB Motoracing     Honda     DNF

24     DI MEGLIO Mike     63     FRA     0     Avintia Racing     Ducati     DNF

25     REDDING Scott     45     GBR     0     Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS     Honda     DNF

MotoGP 2015 Sunday, July 12th 2015 - Rider Standings:

1     ROSSI Valentino 46     ITA     179     Movistar Yamaha MotoGP     Yamaha

2     LORENZO Jorge     99     SPA     166     Movistar Yamaha MotoGP     Yamaha

3     IANNONE Andrea     29     ITA     118     Ducati Team     Ducati

** 4     MARQUEZ Marc     93     SPA     114     Repsol Honda Team     Honda**

5     DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4     ITA     87     Ducati Team     Ducati

6     SMITH Bradley     38     GBR     87     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha

** 7     PEDROSA Dani     26     SPA     67     Repsol Honda Team     Honda**

8     CRUTCHLOW Cal     35     GBR     66     CWM LCR Honda     Honda

9     ESPARGARO Pol     44     SPA     64     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha

10     VINALES Maverick 25     SPA     57     Team Suzuki Ecstar     Suzuki

11     PETRUCCI Danilo 9     ITA     51     Pramac Racing     Ducati

12     ESPARGARO Aleix 41     SPA     44     Team Suzuki Ecstar     Suzuki

13     HERNANDEZ Yonny 68     COL     32     Pramac Racing     Ducati

14     REDDING Scott     45     GBR     30     Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS     Honda

15     BARBERA Hector     8     SPA     19     Avintia Racing     Ducati

16     BAZ Loris     76     FRA     14     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha

17     BAUTISTA Alvaro 19     SPA     13     Aprilia Racing Team Gresini     Aprilia

18     MILLER Jack     43     AUS     12     CWM LCR Honda     Honda

19     BRADL Stefan     6     GER     9     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha

20     PIRRO Michele     51     ITA     8     Ducati Team     Ducati

21     HAYDEN Nicky     69     USA     8     Aspar MotoGP Team     Honda

22     LAVERTY Eugene     50     IRE     7     Aspar MotoGP Team     Honda

23     AOYAMA Hiroshi     7     JPN     5     AB Motoracing     Honda

24     DI MEGLIO Mike     63     FRA     2     Avintia Racing     Ducati

25     DE ANGELIS Alex 15     RSM     1     Athina Forward Racing     Forward Yamaha

Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa arrive at German GP:

For more information: www.hondaracingcorporation.com