MotoGP Germany Practice LIVE: Maverick Vinales dominates a crazy session at the Sachsenring!

Much earlier in the season than in 2022, the rocket Francis Bagnaia seems to have ignited its reactors and is already arriving at full power on the Sachsenring circuit for the German Grand Prix MotoGP, 9th round of the championship.

Having just come out of the Dutch GP, less than seven days ago, where he appeared serene before, during and after, the Ducati Lenovo Team rider indeed arrives in former East Germany with a tendency and statistics as impressive as his driving.

Winner of the last three Grands Prix of Catalonia, Italy and the Netherlands, and the only driver to have scored two full cards of 37 points during this first part of the season, the Turinese is only 10 points behind the championship leader. Less than a week ago, he had a perfect weekend, taking pole position, setting a new circuit record, then winning the Sprint and Grand Prix MotoGP on Sunday (also setting a new fastest lap in the race).

In addition, it will be a memorable weekend for the two-time reigning world champion, who has the circuit record of 1'19.756 since 2022 and will reach the 200 Grand Prix of the world championship this Sunday. Will he take the lead in the general classification, with for the moment a deficit of 10 points on a Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) who already seems almost resigned?

The n°1 has only two podiums on the lands of a certain Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing) in Germany, finishing P3 in Moto2™ in 2017 and P2 in MotoGP™ in 2023 (from pole) following a great battle with Jorge Martin (he also finished P2 in the Sprint in 2023). In 2022, he also qualified on pole but crashed on lap 4 at turn 1 to lose 91 points off the Championship lead, before overturning that deficit to clinch the title…

Francis Bagnaia : “This weekend will be the last before the summer break, and I hope to close this first part of the season in the best possible way. We are coming off three very positive weekends, where we only missed out on victory in the Barcelona Sprint, but in Holland everything was perfect. Last year in Germany Martín was very strong, but we also managed to be more competitive on Sunday. Now we have to stay focused. We have all the potential to continue to do well, and if we work like we have so far, I'm sure we will be able to do well this weekend too. »

In front of the Ducati official only appears the championship leader, George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), humiliated by Borgo Panigale despite his top performances for two years. The one who bet on Aprilia from 2025 is undoubtedly keen to show that he is the best, but he humbly bowed last weekend at Assen. The Madrilenian arrives on a track where he achieved his first double last year (Sprint & GP victory), only ahead of Francis Bagnaia by 0,064s during the GP. We're looking forward to the race...

Four other drivers seem able to come and play spoilsport, starting of course with Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) which, since Jerez, is generally making good money from its race weekends despite a poor performance in the Netherlands. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) in great shape since its future was sealed, Peter Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) still solid in its first year, as well as a combative Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing), all equally capable of very good things, although a little less regular at the moment.

 

But to write the ninth chapter of this 2024 MotoGP season, it will be necessary to cover the German track of 15 meters 3671 times during the Sprint on Saturday and complete 30 loops on Sunday, on a track with a surface that is both abrasive and not very grippy, characterized by its succession of eight left turns before the infamous Waterfall. It is the shortest circuit of the season, but also, with Philipp Island (Australia), the most difficult for the tires. It is, however, one of the slowest, but its 10 left turns and 3 right turns, as well as the fact that its longest straight does not exceed 700 meters, generate strong constraints and little rest time for the tires. . It also has the particularity of being taken in a counterclockwise direction, which is a fairly rare occurrence during the season.

Among the current full-time riders, 8 have reached the podium at the Sachsenring in MotoGP: Marc Marquez (8), Maverick Vinales (2), Quartararo (2), Zarco (2), Oliveira (1), Miller (1), Bagnaia (1) and Martin (1).

The last editions were won by Jorge Martin (2023), fabio quartararo (2022) and Marc Marquez (2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 20216, 2015, 2014 and 2013).

The records are set in 1'19.765 for pole position (Francis Bagnaia) in 2022, and 305,0 km/h for the speed (Marco Bezzecchi) since 2023!

 

Weather-wise, we should now escape the rain that fell last night…

This morning in FP1, the session was dominated by Marc Marquez before a small, minor fall, even if George Martin finally achieved the best time in 1'20.584, thanks to a soft rear tire that he was the only one to have used.
Francis Bagnaia remained in his box for the entire second run but came out in the last quarter of an hour to move from 15th to 5th position, before crossing the checkered flag in 7th place.

While waiting to discover more, at the moment when the 22 pilots (with Stefan bradl wildcard for Honda and Remy gardner to replace Alex Rins, but without Aleix Espargaro package following his broken hand) are preparing for this 60-minute pre-qualifying practice, with a still cloudy sky that is barely clearing, wind blowing at their backs in the straight and cool temperatures of 19° in the air and 28° on the ground, let's enjoy these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

MotoGP™ Germany, Sachsenring	2023	2024
FP1	1'20.702 Johann Zarco (See here)	1'20.584 Jorge Martin (See here)
Practice	1'20.271 Marco Bezzecchi (See here)	1'19.622 Maverick Vinales (See here)
FP2	1'29.269 Marc Marquez (See here)	(See here)
Q1	1'24.655 Brad Binder (See here)	(See here)
Q2	1'21.409 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)	(See here)
Sprint	Martin, Bagnaia, Miller (See here)	(See here)
Warm Up	1'20.999 Marco Bezzecchi (See here)	(See here)
Course	Martin, Bagnaia, Zarco (See here)	(See here)
All time lap record	1'19.765 Francesco Bagnaia 2022 (See here)	1'19.622 Maverick Vinales (See here)

When the red lights go out... The live timing doesn't work, which happens quite often, generally not for very long but is obviously rather annoying...

Anyway, these are still the two Marquez brothers who set off first in front of the two VR46 drivers.

After just one turn, Marc Márquez returns to his pit to explain something to his mechanics.

Francis Bagnaia starts the session with a soft tire, but it's Jack Miller which records the first reference in 1'21.837 in front Jorge Martin, Pedro Acosta, Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco.

Meanwhile, Marco Bezzecchi made a mistake in the Waterfall, the infamous turn number 11. After a long roll, the VR 46 driver fortunately got up.

Peter Acosta is now 1'20.953 ahead Francesco Bagnaia, Johann Zarco, Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini.

Marc Márquez set off again but suffered a huge fall, losing the front then the rear, also in the Waterfall. The Spanish pilot appears stunned.

In less than 10 minutes, Francis Bagnaia takes command in 1'20.649 ahead Enea Bastianini year, Pedro Acosta, Maverick Vinales and Johann Zarco.

The live timing has returned, allowing us to see that everyone is on medium tires at the front except Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder on hard, while there is approximately equality between the mediums and the softs at the rear.

After this rather violent first salvo, the ranking is made up of Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Pedro Acosta, Maverick Vinales, Johann Zarco, Alex Márquez, Jorge Martin, Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo, Augusto Fernandez, Miguel Oliveira, Takaaki Nakagami, Stefan Bradl, Luca Marini, Joan Mir, Raul Fernandez, Remy Gardner, While Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez did not register any time.

Jules cluzel, Canal+ consultant this weekend, informs that Marc Márquez was riding his motorcycle number 2, and the problem on number 1 has still not been found. As a result, the Gresini driver is on foot…

Upon resumption, Miguel Oliveira goes back to 5th position but it's the turn of Fabio Di Giannantonio to make a mistake in turn #1. The Italian rider got up holding his right collarbone, which is never a good sign, while the session was stopped at the red flag to replace an Airfence pierced by his yellow Ducati.

A little live to keep you waiting…

The track will open at 15:35 p.m. with 37 minutes 56 seconds left in the session.

This temporary cessation of activity allows Marc Marquez to be present at the second start, but we do not know on which of his two motorcycles.

Takaaki Nakagami made a mistake by losing the front of his Honda in turn #1.

Franco Morbidelli jumped to second position, equipped with a rear mid, then Marc Marquez achieves the best time in 1'20.384 with a soft. Impressive, even if it benefited from Enea Bastianini in focus!

Joan mir continues his ordeal by falling without gravity at turn #1, just before Peter Acosta experienced his second fall of the day, also at turn #1, followed a few moments later by his teammate Augusto Fernandez in #3.

Fabio DiGiannantonio returns to the track, implying that he does not suffer from any fracture or dislocation.

Raul fernandez climbs to provisional 4th place at a time when most of the drivers are back in their boxes. The top 10 is then made up of Marc Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Raul Fernandez, Enea Bastianini, Pedro Acosta, Jorge Martin, Maverick Vinales, Miguel Oliveira and Johann Zarco.

Dramatic twist 23 minutes from the checkered flag: Marc Marquez leaves his box to take off his leather and go to the circuit medical center! Number 93 must have suffered from his huge fall but, in the meantime, still achieved the best time in just six flying laps!

Meanwhile, Peter Acosta did not give up despite his falls and took provisional second place, 0,228s behind Marc Márquez.

In the wake, Alex Marquez achieves 1.

There are 16 minutes left before the flag is lowered and here we go, Miguel Oliveira and Maverick Vinales settling at the top of the table, the Catalan then posting 1'20.035.

After a final passage to their box, the drivers come out between their teeth: Enea Bastianini confirmed his current good form and positioned himself 2nd before losing to his teammate two laps later.

Alex Marquez registered 1'20.029 eight minutes from the end of the session, before being dethroned by Maverick Vinales in 1'19.622, which beats the absolute circuit record!

Miguel Oliveira, who is looking for a handlebar for 2025, seizes second position, when Enea Bastianini is a new Waterfall victim in his exit turn.

Remy gardner makes a mistake in turn #13, leading to the usual procedure of yellow flags and time cancellations of which he is the victim in particular Fabio Quartararo.

The fall of Johann zarco in the last bend of the circuit puts an end to a session which didn't leave us much to breathe!

Finally, Maverick Vinales, Jorge Martin, Miguel Oliveira, Alex Márquez, Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Franco Morbidelli, Pedro Acosta, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Brad Binder are directly qualified for Q2. The other drivers will have to go through Q1.

Ranking of the MotoGP Practice of the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring:

MotoGP Germany Sachsenring ranking credit: MotoGP.com