This weekend the MotoGP German Grand Prix is held at the Sachsenring circuit, a race in which, since his debut in the premier class, in 2013, Marc Márquez has won every year uninterruptedly, including last season , when he was dragging the injury to his right arm that has recently forced him to go through the operating room for a fourth time.
The peculiar characteristics of the convoluted German kart track, the shortest on the calendar with only 3.7 kilometers in length, and a total of 13 curves, 10 of them to the left, made it the stage in which Márquez has performed best throughout his sports career.
Márquez’s first win at the Sachsenring dates back to July 18, 2010, when he won the 125cc race, and since then he has not stepped off the top step of the podium. He won both years of Moto2, in 2011 and 2012, and took victory in his debut season in the premier class, on July 14, 2013, ahead of Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi.
In 2020, the year in which he fractured his right humerus, he did not run in Germany due to the pandemic, winning again in 2021, despite the injury. This year, however, the Honda rider will not be able to compete at the Sachsenring as he is recovering from the operation he underwent on June 2.
The absence of Márquez this weekend in Germany opens the door for another rider to win this race, a prize that does not particularly motivate Fabio Quartararo, the World Championship leader who managed to finish on the podium last year, for behind Marc and Miguel Oliveira, who was second.
For the Frenchman, the one in German Saxony is a circuit where he cannot flow as he would like with his Yamaha, although he hopes to be competitive this year.
“Sachsenring is a circuit in which we were not bad last year, but there are some points that cost me a lot with our bike, as happened in 2019 (when it crashed in the first laps), and also 2021, despite finishing in the podium. We’ll see, but surely it won’t be a bad track for us”, predicted the Frenchman after last Monday’s test in Barcelona, in which he set the best time.
The absence of Márquez opens the door to victory in a scenario where no other rider has won since 2013, a possibility that could be an extra motivation for the MotoGP grid.
“No, it’s the same, in the end Marc has won everything there, but he doesn’t motivate anymore, what would motivate is to win with him on the track and nobody has achieved this”, agrees the boy from the Côte d’Azur.
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