Crash or no crash: Marc Marquez dominated the opening session of the German Grand Prix

The ‘King of Saxony’ once again lived up to his reputation on Friday. With a time of 1:19.394, Marc Marquez (Ducati) finished the day’s practice as the fastest rider, ahead of Raul Fernandez (Aprilia) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati). No other rider has been more successful at the Sachsenring than the Ducati star. However, the morning got off to a bumpy start.

On his second fast lap, Marquez crashed out at Turn 3, caused by a new bump in the tarmac. He was self-critical in his assessment of the incident: “It was my mistake not to have analysed the Moto2 crashes there more thoroughly. In Moto2, two or three riders had crashed there, and I thought there must have been another reason. But it was a big bump; even the tarmac had risen slightly there. You can’t take the normal ideal line; you have to ride a bit further out.”

The bike remained largely undamaged, and Márquez was able to resume practice shortly afterwards. Looking ahead to Sunday’s 30-lap race, he advises caution: “If you hit that bump whilst leaning into a corner, you’ll crash.” For 2027, he sees a simple solution: instead of resurfacing the entire track, they just need to repair that one specific spot.

“If I win, it’s just business as usual for the others”

Marc Marquez

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Sachsenring: International Livestream - Samstag

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Marquez remained calm when discussing the starting issues. Since Assen, the holeshot device has been banned; at the Sachsenring, the starting grid positions are staggered, with 12 metres now between the rows instead of 9. At the Sachsenring, he said, this is less of an issue than at Assen, as riders brake harder there. When asked how he felt on his first lap on home turf, he joked: it felt easy enough – “but by the second lap I was already in the gravel trap.”