2016 German GP: Marquez on seventh heaven

After a three week break, the racing action returned at the 2016 German Grand Prix at Sachsenring. Marc Marquez was the obvious favourite for the race as he had qualified on pole and won the past six races at the German circuit. True to his reputation, the Spanish rider qualified on pole with Hector Barbera surprising everyone by claiming second spot on the front row with Valentino Rossi third. It was pouring down on the race day and it conditions were similar to Assen. Rossi was on charge as he grabbed the race lead from Marquez within the first few corners while Barbera was swamped by the trailing pack of riders. 

Andrea Dovizioso also made a spectacular start that saw him rise to third place by the end of first lap as he was closing down on Marquez. Previous race winner, Jack Miller was also relishing the wet conditions as he jumped 10 positions by end of lap 1 to grab sixth place. The Ducati rider was on charge and by end of the third lap; he passed Rossi to take the race lead. Petrucci and Marquez were engrossed in a battle for third position with both the riders switching positions on a regular basis. Finally it was Petrucci who won the battle and took third place from Marquez. Dovizioso had managed to etch out a healthy lead over Rossi while the MotoGP legend also succumbed to a fast charging Petrucci and was relegated to third place. Marquez was finding it difficult to cope with the wet conditions and was soon passed by Barbera and Miller. 

At the front, the fast flying Petrucci had caught up with his Italian compatriot and within the matter of few corners; the Pramac Ducati rider was leading the German Grand Prix. Petrucci was going strong and the pecking order remained unchanged for a few laps but all of a sudden the Italian rider lost his front end and crashed out of the race. Petrucci tried to rejoin the race but there were flames coming out from his engine and the Italian rider had to retire disappointingly. Marquez also had a lucky escape as he ran wide off the track into the gravel but utilized his dirt tracking skills to hold on to the bike and rejoining the race in ninth position. 

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With 17 laps remaining in the race, a dry line starts to appear on the track and the pit crews started positioning the second bike for the riders. Andrea Iannone was the first of the top riders to switch bikes as he rode out on intermediate tyres. The switch seemed to have worked for the Ducati rider as his lap times were almost four seconds faster than the guys riding on wet tyres. Marquez also headed into the pits but unlike Iannone he switched to slicks on both ends. It was a gamble taken by the youngest MotoGP rider as the wet lines wasn’t very broad. But with no possibility of rain, the track started drying up and Marquez’s move seemed to have clicked a she was flying on the track and clocking one after another fastest lap of the race.

The leading trio of Dovizioso, Rossi, Miller and Barbera were continuing to race on wet tyres that were deteriorating badly on the dry surface. Despite the pit crew signaling them to switch bikes, they stay put on the track. This reluctance of not heading to pits proved costly for Rossi as Marquez not only grabbed the race lead, he was down in seventh position and his dreams of winning the championship seemed all but over. Scott Redding was going strong in second place and was followed by Dovizioso in third place. But Cal Crutchlow who so far as had a torrid season was on the charge as he passed the Italian rider in the penultimate lap and made a brilliant pass over his British counterpart in the final lap of the race to take second. Marquez cruised past the finish line to register his seventh consecutive win at Sachsenring while Redding was passed in the last corner by Dovizioso to grab the final step on the rostrum