Sachsenring, warm-up: Di Giannantonio crashes at high speed, Marquez 1st

At 9.40 am sharp, the remaining 20 MotoGP riders headed towards the pit exit for the ten-minute warm-up. The warm-up session took place in excellent conditions. Blue skies and a temperature of a good 20°C welcomed the riders in the premier class on the final day of the event at the Sachsenring.

The Gresini team unveiled a special livery on Sunday morning. Alex Marquez’s Ducati Desmosedici GP26 was decked out in blue and yellow – a tribute to the Movistar livery with which Sete Gibernau made MotoGP history at the Sachsenring.

Due to Fermin Aldeguer’s injury, Gresini fielded just one rider. Marco Bezzecchi was also absent on Sunday. The Italian had suffered a heavy crash on Saturday and is due to undergo surgery in Italy today.

Marc Marquez in the lead – Di Giannantonio crashes!

Sprint winner Marc Marquez also set the pace in the warm-up. After seven minutes, the number 93 rider took the lead with a lap time of 1:20.119. Fabio di Giannantonio was in second place but experienced a nasty scare a minute before the end of the session.

Whilst braking into Turn 8, the Italian lost control and crashed. The Ducati rolled over in the gravel trap and crashed into the track barrier. The bike was badly damaged. According to initial reports, ‘Diggia’ was using the new Ducati aero package, which has received mixed feedback so far. Fortunately, the Italian was uninjured and returned to the pits on a scooter.

Bestzeit zum Aufwärmen: Marc Marquez wieder an der Spitze

Foto: Gold and Goose

Surprise: Two Yamahas in the top five

The order remained unchanged at the last minute: Marc Marquez held on to first place ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio. Alex Marquez took third place with the Gresini special design. Fabio Quartararo surprised everyone with the fourth-fastest lap time. His Yamaha team-mate rounded off the top five.

Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), Luca Marini (Honda), Diogo Moreira (LCR-Honda) and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse-Aprilia) rounded off the top 10. Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia) finished the warm-up in just 14th place, 1.247 seconds off the pace.