MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa is coming out of retirement aged 35 to ride for KTM at next month’s Styrian Grand Prix, the MotoGP team announced on Tuesday. The Spaniard, who won three world titles in lower categories and competed for 13 seasons in MotoGP winning 31 races and finishing second overall three times, retired at the end of 2018. He has been working as a development rider for KTM. The Austrian team said Pedrosa would ride “an adapted development version of the KTM RC16 to gain further valuable data in Grand Prix conditions”. The KTM RC16 is the model being raced by KTM and its satellite team, Tech3, this season. “It has been a long time since my last race and, of course, the mentality for a GP is very different to a test,” said Pedrosa on the KTM web site. “My focus for the GP is to try to test the things we have on the bike in a race situation.” “It’s difficult to talk about my expectations after being so long away from competition. It might all click into a racing mentality or it might not.” Pedrosa will race as a wild card entry, alongside KTM’s two regular factory riders, Miguel Oliveira, who is seventh in the championship, and Brad Binder, who is 10th. “It will be curious to see Dani in MotoGP again,” said Mike Leitner, the KTM Race Manager. “He has been away from racing for quite a long time but it will be valuable to have him in garage at Red Bull Ring to analyze the strong and not-so-strong parts of our KTM RC16 package in GP conditions. The Styrian GP on August 8 will be the 10th round of 19 in a season dominated so far by Frenchman Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha.

Petronas Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli is set to miss at least another four races, with the team targeting a Misano return for the Italian. Morbidelli was forced to sit out the Dutch TT at Assen after aggravating an existing knee injury, and elected to undergo surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament. Though the Dutch race came right before MotoGP’s summer break, there were immediately serious doubts that Morbidelli would be able to return right away after the break – and team principal Razlan Razali has now confirmed this is not on the cards. “Franco is recovering well from his knee surgery,” Razali said. “We want to ensure that he is at 100% before he comes back, so I think that we won’t expect him to be racing again until Misano – although I wish it will be sooner.” Yamaha World Superbike rider Garrett Gerloff fared reasonably well standing in for Morbidelli at Assen, but the MotoGP’s next race, the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, clashes with the Superbike round at Most. Yamaha’s new-for-2021 test rider Cal Crutchlow is instead believed to be the likeliest rider to be called upon as replacement. “This is a track that he [Morbidelli] loves, he knows well and it should be a good one to see his return at,” Razali said of Misano. “We all continue to wish him well in his recovery and to come back only when he feels completely fit.” The championship runner-up last year, Morbidelli is only 13th in the current riders’ standings, having struggled to remain a consistent frontrunner on an old-spec M1 bike – although he is still six places ahead of new team-mate Valentino Rossi. It is seen as highly likely that Petronas Yamaha will head into 2022 with an all-new line-up. “It’s important to remember that we’re still waiting to hear Valentino and Yamaha’s decision about next year,” Razali said. “Anyway, and as is normal in this period of the year, the latest news regarding the MotoGP riders’ market has certainly opened up all possibilities! “It’s an on-going discussion between Yamaha, ourselves and our current MotoGP riders, and we’re not in a rush to announce anything.” Razali’s reference to “the latest news” is likely in regards to the impending split between Maverick Vinales and Yamaha, which is expected to lead to Morbidelli being promoted from Petronas to the works squad for 2022. And with Rossi leaning towards retirement, it would mean there are two plum rides up for grabs for 2022 – with Petronas having bagged as many as six race wins last year, even if its form then tailed off in 2021. “We have been receiving interest from a lot of riders and even riders that are currently outside the MotoGP championship who want to join our team. “We believe that we have time and are in a position where we have the luxury to choose; everybody knows of the package that Yamaha can offer and what a young rider can potentially do as part of our team. “We have the structure and the package to offer young riders the opportunity to achieve their dreams. We have seen it with both Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo, so with all this interest we will take our time to evaluate every rider who we would like. “There won’t be any potential line-up announcement until after the next couple of races.”

Reigning MotoGP champion Joan Mir believes Suzuki GSX-RR is ‘more aggressive’ than the Yamaha M1: ‘They both have the Inline-4 engine, but the character is quite different.’ As the only Inline four-cylinder machines on the MotoGP grid, the Suzuki GSX-RR and Yamaha M1 are often grouped together as similar machines in terms of riding style and technical strengths. But that’s not an opinion shared by Suzuki’s reigning world champion Joan Mir, at least when looking at the M1 from the outside. “Woah! Difficult question to answer because I only see from the outside and the results,” Mir replied, when asked to compare the two machines. “I think that the bikes are not really similar. It’s true that they both have the Inline-4 engine, but the character is quite different. “You see the Yamahas riding in a different way to the Suzukis. The Suzukis are more aggressive. You have more movement. The Yamaha looks more smooth. “It’s only from what I can see, but I think the Suzuki is a bit more aggressive than the Yamaha.” Yamaha has won five of the nine races so far this season (four for title leader Fabio Quartararo and one for Maverick Vinales), with the V4-powered bikes of Jack Miller (Ducati), Miguel Oliveira (KTM) and Marc Marquez (Honda) victorious in the other four events. Mir and Suzuki are yet to win a 2021 race, but the Spaniard has made three podium appearances for fourth place in the standings heading into the summer break.

The Australian Grand Prix was called off Tuesday for a second year in succession due to logistical problems caused by the pandemic, but Formula One bosses said they still planned on a 23-race season. The race had been scheduled on November 21, but hit roadblocks over Australia’s requirement for overseas arrivals to undergo 14 days of mandatory quarantine. The 2021 Australian MotoGP in October was also cancelled. With Formula One’s Brazilian Grand Prix taking place on November 7, drivers and teams would not have been able to complete the required lockdown in time, with suggestions of a more relaxed bio-secure bubble reportedly rejected. The Australian MotoGP scheduled for Phillip Island on October 24 fell for a second year with the Malaysian MotoGP brought forward a week to take its slot and an extra race weekend added in Portugal’s Algarve on November 7. Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairperson Paul Little said he was “deeply disappointed”. “We appreciate the challenge Australia faces with current international travel restrictions and the importance of vaccinations,” he added. The Formula One race had already been pushed back from its traditional season-opening slot in March to November, sandwiched between the Brazilian Grand Prix and the inaugural race in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of December. Cancellation means two years without a Formula One race at Melbourne’s newly-reconfigured Albert Park after the 2020 edition was dramatically called off just before the opening practice session. It follows the cancellation of the Singapore Grand Prix on October 3 also because of Covid-19 worries. Despite the setbacks, Formula One chief Stefano Domenicali said he was confident of still being able to stage a 23-race season in 2021. “While it is disappointing we won’t be racing in Australia this season, we are confident we can deliver a 23-race season in 2021 and we have a number of options to take forward,” he said. “We will be working through the details of those options in the coming weeks and will provide further updates once those discussions are concluded.” While Australia has been among the world’s most successful countries in containing the coronavirus, seeing just 30 000 virus cases since the pandemic began, it is badly lagging in vaccinations. So far, less than eight percent of its roughly 25 million residents have been fully vaccinated, one of the lowest proportions for any developed nation, with few signs that its borders will reopen any time soon. The decision to cancel could have ramifications for tennis’ Australian Open, with the 2022 season’s opening Grand Slam tournament due to begin in Melbourne in January. Players were forced to go through quarantine ahead of the tournament this year, but it sparked a flurry of complaints about the conditions and a public backlash. Victoria state Sports Minister Martin Pakula said he was confident it would be a different picture in January with more people in Australia being vaccinated as Pfizer doses become more readily available. “I’m very confident that the Australian Open will proceed and I’m very confident that next year’s Formula One will proceed,” he said. “It may not sound like a lot, but the difference between November and January is quite profound.”

Red Bull KTM rider Miguel Oliviera has revealed that he was approached by the Monster Energy Yamaha team about potentially replacing the departing Maverick Vinales for next season – but says that he rejected the offer in favour of honouring the contract he already has in place with his current employer. Vinales’ shock decision to leave Yamaha was officially confirmed earlier this week, with an imminent announcement expected on his move to Aprilia for next year. With the move creating a hole in the factory team’s line-up for next season, it’s so far been assumed that satellite rider Franco Morbidelli would get promoted to replace Vinales. Oliveira’s comments hint that Yamaha was nonetheless looking elsewhere – but with the Portuguese rider contracted to KTM until the end of 2022 and, unlike in Vinales’ case, with both parties happy with the current arrangement and KTM unlikely to give its blessing to breaking the deal early, he says he’s not going anywhere. “The market and contracts,” he told Portuguese website Motorcycle Sports at a media event this week, “especially in these modern days, come to demonstrate that – and we already have one or two cases there, where there is no desire on the part of one of the parties where the rider does not continue with the team or the team no longer wants the rider – that these contracts are broken. Nowadays, having a signed contract is worth what it’s worth. “I have my commitment to my team since last year for two years and I will not go back on that word. “Naturally, this situation with Vinales brought some nervousness to the talks for the future, and I was also approached in that sense, but as I said my focus is on my team. “It’s a great team and I believe I can be world champion with them and I have a contract and even win it. While I’m here there is a lot of work to do.” Morbidelli remains the obvious choice to replace Vinales alongside his former team-mate and Petronas Yamaha graduate Fabio Quartararo, after an impressive 2020 season that saw the Italian finish runner-up in the championship behind Joan Mir despite being on year-old satellite machinery. However, with MotoGP now entering the five-week summer break, Yamaha is under no pressure to rush the next step in the process.

Marquez had a huge high-side during second practice at Assen last Friday and hurt his right ankle after a heavy impact with the ground. The crash was blamed on the Honda’s electronics, with Marquez admitting he was “angry” with how the crash happened and lost confidence in the bike as a result. But Honda reacted immediately and introduced tweaks to the bike’s electronics which eventually gave Marquez his confidence back. Wary that Assen would be a tougher challenge for both Marquez and Honda than the Sachsenring where the six-time world champion won, Puig is confident his rider could have fought for the podium again without his FP2 crash. “Yes, Sachsenring is a track which is very suitable for the Honda and also for Marc Marquez,” Puig said after the Assen race. “Marc had the chance there and he grabbed it with both hands. In the past Assen has never been an easy track like this, and it has been much tougher for all the Honda HRC riders. “We clearly understood it wouldn’t be easy before we arrived. “On Friday, Marc’s crash made the weekend even more complicated. “Without that crash, I think he would have been fighting for the podium as he wouldn’t have lost the confidence he did.” Marquez dropped into Q1 at Assen having struggled on Saturday morning and FP3, with a crash in qualifying leaving him 20th on the grid. However, he leaped up to 12th at the end of the opening lap and went on to finish seventh, with Marquez admitting he ended the race physically better than he anticipated despite the strain the Assen track put on his weak right shoulder. “We saw a great recovery from Marc at the beginning of the race,” Puig added. “He started in 20th and he recovered almost ten positions in just a single lap, this was the Marc that we know. “It shows his effort and the potential that he has, we are really looking forward to seeing him again in Austria after the break when he has recovered even further.”

Petronas SRT rider Franco Morbidelli will undergo an eight-week ‘rehabilitation programme’ following surgery earlier to repair the meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, damaged in recent raining accidents. Should the Italian be unable to ride his Petronas Yamaha during that time it would mean he will miss not only this weekend’s Assen round, but also the pair of Austrian events at the Red Bull Ring, after the summer break. Morbidelli’s Friday morning operation took one hour. The reigning MotoGP title runner-up will stay in hospital in Bologna until Sunday for observation. “After another painful incident with my left knee training on Wednesday I made the decision, together with Petronas Yamaha SRT and the VR46 Academy, to fix this issue that I’ve been carrying for too long now,” Morbidelli said. “I underwent surgery this morning with only one idea in my mind: to come back in the best form as soon as possible and to be able to perform at 100% on the bike. “I want to thank Professor Maurilio Marcacci and his team for their work. I can’t wait to be able to start my recovery process.

Petronas Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli has undergone successful surgery today in Italy to repair extensive damage to his knee, after exacerbating a pre-existing injury dating back to 2015 earlier this week. The Italian rider required his anterior cruciate ligament to be repaired and could face a lengthy recuperation time, with Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow set to replace him. Speaking in a brief press release issued by the team, Morbidelli confirmed that the operation in Bologna’s Casa di Cura Madre Fortunata Toniolo hospital had went well, but that he has a long road ahead of him to return to action. “After another painful incident with my left knee training on Wednesday I made the decision, together with Petronas Yamaha SRT and the VR46 Academy, to fix this issue that I’ve been carrying for too long now,” he said. “I underwent surgery this morning with only one idea in my mind: to come back in the best form as soon as possible and to be able to perform at 100% on the bike. “I want to thank Professor Maurilio Marcacci and his team for their work. I can’t wait to be able to start my recovery process.” Morbidelli is being replaced this weekend by Yamaha World Superbike rider Garrett Gerloff, with the American potentially getting something of an audition to take over from the retiring Valentino Rossi for next season. “I finally got to do a full dry session,” Gerloff said, having stepped in for Rossi for a rain-disrupted day of practice last year while the Italian awaited being cleared of COVID-19. “The bike feels quite a bit different in the dry, than in the mixed conditions I had in Valencia last year when I rode the Yamaha before. Here at Assen with the fast corners it can be a bit difficult to get used to how stiff and aggressive the MotoGP bike can be. “It’s been really nice though because the bike and the team are amazing. I just need to keep doing this, get some more laps done and find a bit more pace. I’m not pushing at 100% yet because I’m still trying to feel my way and get used to this bike. I’m looking forward to riding it again tomorrow.” However, with Gerloff due back on WSB duties after the summer break, it seems that it will be Crutchlow instead who joins the team in Austria. With the team speaking only of an “eight-week rehabilitation programme” for Morbidelli, it seems likely that he will be out for even longer than MotoGP’s five-week summer break – and could even struggle to return to the series ahead of the series’ overseas races in October. Should that be the case, it’s believed by The Race’s contacts in the Petronas Yamaha team that it will instead be Crutchlow who jumps into his seat for two races at Austria, his home race at Silverstone, and potentially follow-up events at Misano and Aragon in September.

Honda’s six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, who missed all of last season after an injury in the opening race, walked away from a big crash in practice for the Dutch round at Assen on Friday. The Spaniard won in Germany last weekend, the first since his comeback. Marquez was thrown over the handlebars at turn 10 in the day’s second session but the team said he had not suffered any major injury. “I have to say I feel lucky to escape in a good condition overall, these kinds of crashes can be very hard and very dangerous,” said Marquez. “It’s painful, but nothing is wrong. It was a strange crash because I didn’t think that I was over the limit and I was riding like I was in the morning. “In this corner we rely on the traction control a lot, but it wasn’t there and when I shifted the rear started sliding and then I fell.” Marquez said he would need to understand what happened to regain confidence for Saturday.

Maverick Vinales led the way in opening practice for the Dutch TT at Assen, the Yamaha man leading Honda’s Pol Espargaro by just over a tenth-of-a-second. Vinales-who is running team-mate Fabio Quartararo’s set-up this weekend as he looks to overcome his recent performance woes-chipped away throughout the session as he continually lowered the benchmark for his rivals to beat. A final time attack in the closing minutes saw him post a 1:33.072s tour, with Espargaro not lapping far behind as he also tries to find the speed he has struggled to capture so far in his maiden year at Honda. Pol lead the way on a 1:33.392s shortly prior to Vinales’ final push, improving to a 1:33.183s on his final attempt as he slotted into a solid second behind the M1 racer. Alex Rins featured towards the head of the timesheets for Suzuki in third ahead of series leader Quartararo, while Takaaki Nakagami made it two Honda’s in the top five on his LCR-run example. Johann Zarco was sixth for Pramac Ducati ahead of Danilo Petrucci, the Tech 3 KTM pilot showing encouraging early pace as he started the Dutch TT weekend as the fastest of the Austrian manufacturers riders. Aleix Espargaro was eighth overall on his Aprilia ahead of German Grand Prix victor Marc Marquez, while Lorenzo Savadori came out the blocks well on the second Aprilia to complete the top ten. Factory Ducati pairing Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia were 11th and 12th respectively ahead of reigning MotoGP world champion Joan Mir, while factory KTM duo Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder once again started off their weekend’s further down the times- the former 14th with the latter ending up 16th just behind Valentino Rossi. Garrett Gerloff-who replaces an injured Franco Morbidelli at Petronas SRT alongside Rossi this weekend- was the final classified rider after being the only man to crash during the 45-minute test as he tried the learn the Assen venue, the American having never visited the circuit prior to the event. The GRT Yamaha World Superbike racer-who makes his second MotoGP appearance after stepping in for Rossi during Friday practice at the Valencia GP at the end of last season-displayed promising speed though as soon re-joined the action, posting a 1:35.981s by the end to sit just four-tenths down on Luca Marini ahead.

With the rescheduling of the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas and cancellation of the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, the 2021 MotoGP calendar has been revised. The rescheduling of the US round of MotoGP to 1st to the 3rd of October means the OR Grand Prix of Thailand at Buriram, Thailand, will be pushed to the 15th to the 17th of October. The Australian and Malaysian MotoGP rounds on the weekends of 24th and 31st October remain on the calendar as of publication date. However, it remains to be seen if current pandemic conditions in both Australia and Malaysia will permit the races to run as scheduled. There are 11 races left on this years MotoGP racing calendar with the next round taking place at TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands on 25th to 27th June. The 2021 MotoGP Rider’s Championship is currently lead by Fabio Quartararo of Monster Energy Yamaha with 131 points, followed by Johann Marco of Pramac Racing with 109 points and Jack Miller of Ducati Lenovo Team with 100 points.

WorldSBK rider Garrett Gerloff will replace the injured Franco Morbidelli at Petronas Yamaha for this weekend’s Dutch MotoGP. Petronas Yamaha have confirmed that WorldSBK rider Garrett Gerloff will ride in place of Franco Morbidelli at this weekend’s Dutch MotoGP. Morbidelli has been ruled out due to a left knee injury suffered during training. It’s believed the injury is a worsening of the ligament damage sustained at Le Mans. This will be the second time that Gerloff steps in for Yamaha as he replaced Valentino Rossi during Friday free practice at the 2020 European Grand Prix, Valencia. Gerloff was impressive throughout the two sessions as he adapted quickly to MotoGP machinery, before Rossi received a negative PCR test – resulting in the Italian being back in action for Saturday and Sunday. Speaking about the opportunity, Gerloff said: “I’m excited for the opportunity ahead, I’m not someone who runs away from a challenge, so I’m ready to get to the track. “It’ll be a new circuit for me, I like trying new tracks, it looks fun, fast and flowing, and really suits my riding style. “I’m looking forward to jumping on the Yamaha M1 again and twisting the throttle. “We’ll see how things go, but I feel good and would like to thank Yamaha and the team for considering me. It won’t be easy, but I’m going to give it my best shot!” It’s been an up-and-down 2021 WorldSBK season so far for the American, with crashes ruining potential podiums in Aragon and Estoril, while a grid penalty for Misano left the GRT man playing catch-up for most of the weekend. However, Gerloff was able to fight back from last place to claim eighth in the ten lap Superpole race, before clinching fifth in race two – showing that speed hasn’t been in question.

Three-time MotoGP race winner Franco Morbidelli has been ruled out of the Dutch TT at Assen this weekend. The 26-year-old Italian injured his knee in a training accident, his team has confirmed. “Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team can confirm that Franco Morbidelli will miss this weekend’s DutchGP due to an injury to his left knee sustained in training today,” read a statement. “The injury is sufficient to mean Franco will miss this weekend’s event and he is undergoing medical assessment to determine the best course of action for recovery. “Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team wishes Franky a speedy recovery.” Morbidelli, the 2017 Moto2 champion and 2020 premier class runner-up, has one podium to his name this year and sits 11th overall. It’s not yet clear if SRT will field a replacement for Morbidelli at Assen, which will host Round 9 of the championship. Fellow Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo holds a 24-point advantage atop the standings, with Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco his nearest rival.

Fabio Quartararo shot to the head of the timesheets by the end of FP3 for the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring to lead Ducati’s Jack Miller. The Yamaha racer managed to save his best for the late-session time attacks, posting the fastest lap of the weekend so far-a 1:20.348s-with just under ten minutes remaining as the field tried to capture one of the ten automatic passages to the pole shootout in qualifying on Saturday afternoon. Miller looked to be on to eclipse the Frenchman’s time at the top of the table with a pair of brand-new soft compound tyres on his Desmosedici, though the Aussie would ultimately have to roll out while nearly two-tenths up halfway round the lap and settle for second after making an error. Johann Zarco completed the top three on his Pramac Ducati example, while Friday leader Miguel Oliveira was able to improve his time slightly to end up fourth ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro. Jorge Martin was the surprise as he fired in an impressive effort just 0.153s down on Quartararo’s benchmark to bag the sixth best time, while Takaaki Nakagami ended up as top Honda in seventh on his LCR-run RC213-V. Francesco Bagnaia recovered from a tough Friday to make Q2 in eighth ahead of Marc Marquez, the FP1 leader struggling to get a time in late on as he continuously lost pace across the second half of the tour, though his best was still enough for ninth just clear of brother Alex Marquez on the second LCR machine-the top ten covered by a minuscule 0.334s. Just missing out on an automatic Q2 berth was reigning MotoGP world champion Joan Mir, the Suzuki rider coming just 0.025s short of bumping Alex from the top ten. He was followed by several other big names, with Franco Morbidelli ending up 12th for Petronas SRT Yamaha ahead of the second factory Yamaha of Maverick Vinales. Vinales crashed at Turn 1 with just half-a-dozen minutes left on the clock, the Spaniard sprinting back to the pits to jump on his back-up M1-though he was unable to set a time good enough to make it into the top ten having ventured back out. Alex Rins also missed out on the other Suzuki, with Valentino Rossi and Brad Binder on the other KTM also struggling in FP3 on their way to 16th and 18th overall respectively. Pol Espagraro was a surprise casualty in FP3 after looking to have top six speed throughout Friday, the factory Honda pilot crashing out at Turn 8-his third incident in as many sessions so far this weekend-while on his final flyer, leaving him a lowly 19th as a result. GERMAN MOTOGP, SACHSENRING – FREE PRACTICE (3) RESULTS POS   RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 ^1 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) 1’20.348s 17/24 294k 2 ^7 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +0.056s 18/21 302k 3 ^5 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.085s 18/22 302k 4 ˅3 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.103s 18/23 298k 5 ^2 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +0.103s 18/19 298k 6 ^8 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +0.153s 19/21 302k 7 ˅1 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.212s 15/22 293k 8 ^14 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +0.216s 23/24 301k 9 ^3 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.314s 18/24 298k 10 ^3 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.334s 21/22 297k 11 ^5 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.359s 17/20 293k 12 ˅2 Franco Morbidelli ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.401s 18/23 290k 13 ˅10 Maverick Vinales SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.539s 21/24 295k 14 ˅10 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.541s 22/22 298k 15 ˅4 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +0.555s 21/23 295k 16 ^5 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.613s 18/23 294k 17 ^1 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +0.630s 19/20 298k 18 ˅3 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.640s 21/22 300k 19 ˅14 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.922s 17/19 297k 20 = Lorenzo Salvadori ITA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* +1.067s 17/19 293k 21 ˅2 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.099s 17/17 297k 22 ˅5 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.321s 20/20 298k

Marc Marquez started the German Grand Prix weekend at the head of the times as he streaked to the fastest tour in opening practice at the Sachsenring. The Honda ace-who remains unbeaten at the circuit since making his premier class bow in 2013-was immediately on the pace as he headed to the peak of the leaderboard in the early-goings, a 1:21.660s ultimately enough to keep him on top throughout as improvements for his rivals were few-and-far between following the opening third of the test. Marquez instead elected to focus on a race simulation for the remainder of the 45-minute session as he looks to score his eighth straight premier class win at the German venue. Series leader Fabio Quartararo ended up second quickest despite a nasty-looking crash at Turn 12 mid-way through the session, the Yamaha man losing the front of his M1 on entry to the right-hander and sliding off into the gravel. He fortunately escaped without injury despite seemingly being concerned about his shoulder and hand in the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Frenchman heading back out later on his spare machine to post an effort 0.168s slower than Marquez’s benchmark. Takaaki Nakagami and Pol Espargaro made it three Honda’s in the top four as the RC213-V looks to continue its strong form at the Sachsenring, Quartararo denying the marque a 1-2-3 result in FP1 with his late improvement. Aleix Espargaro rounded out the top five for Aprilia, while Jack Miller was the highest classified Ducati runner in sixth. Alex Rins made a solid MotoGP comeback after missing the Catalan GP through injury a fortnight ago in seventh as the first of the Suzuki’s, with reigning MotoGP world champion team-mate Joan Mir ninth overall-the two GSX-RR’s sandwiching Pramac’s Johann Zarco. Maverick Vinales completed the top ten on the second factory Yamaha, Francesco Bagnaia just behind him in 11th on the other official Ducati Desmosedici. KTM started out the German event in quiet fashion with Miguel Oliviera its top runner in 12th, while Brad Binder was unable to breach the top 20. Jorge Martin was 19th after an early crash at Turn 12 in a similar vein to Quartararo’s later get-off, while Pol Espargaro also suffered a spill prior to his strong time late on as he went down at Turn 3 just moments after Martin had his own accident. Luca Marini was best rookie on his Avintia-run Ducati in 13th overall, the Italian just edging 15th placed countryman and team-mate Enea Bastianini for the accolade. GERMAN MOTOGP, SACHSENRING – FREE PRACTICE (1) RESULTS POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF LAP MAX 1 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) 1’21.660s 4/25 294k 2 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.168s 13/20 293k 3 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.276s 7/22 291k 4 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.350s 9/19 294k 5 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +0.380s 17/19 293k 6 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +0.391s 9/22 296k 7 Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.416s 19/19 292k 8 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.488s 22/22 296k 9 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.512s 20/22 292k 10 Maverick Vinales SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.593s 14/25 292k 11 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +0.600s 14/25 295k 12 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.664s 14/22 293k 13 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +0.704s 19/22 291k 14 Franco Morbidelli ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.721s 13/24 289k 15 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +0.817s 20/20 294k 16 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.877s 23/24 293k 17 Lorenzo Salvadori ITA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* +0.952s 19/21 290k 18 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +0.986s 12/23 290k 19 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +1.018s 8/18 297k 20 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.031s 22/23 290k 21 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.068s 4/24 293k 22 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.309s 20/23 295k

Alex Rins will attempt to make a comeback at this weekend’s German MotoGP after breaking his right arm just under a fortnight ago. The Suzuki rider crashed in four races in a row before missing the last round altogether due to a spill on his bicycle on the Thursday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Rins fractured the radius bone in the incident, which was reportedly a case of him running into a stationary van on the race track, and underwent an operation the next morning during which he had two screws inserted. He was back in the same Barcelona hospital on Wednesday (June 16, local time) for checks, after which he was cleared to ride his GSX-RR at the Sachsenring. Dr Xavier Mir advised, “After removing the stitches and checking his wrist we consider the mobility of the injury is pretty good and he will try to race in Germany. “Of course, he could suffer some pain during the sessions and he might need some physiotherapy.” Rins himself said, “I went to see Dr Mir for some checks and I feel quite well. He took out the stitches and the bone seems almost fixed. “I have some pain when moving my wrist, so I will keep working on my recovery during these days. In any case, I will try to give it my all. “We didn’t race in Sachsenring last year, so I’m really looking forward to getting back on track here in Germany. “I’m very pleased to be back with the team; I can’t wait to see them all and return to racing with my GSX-RR.” Rins is currently 15th in the championship with just two points finishes to his name, while 2020 championship-winning team-mate Joan Mir sits fifth, 37 points off the pace. Suzuki’s project leader and team director, Shinichi Sahara, said, “We’re glad to see Alex Rins back on track this weekend after his injury and surgery in Catalunya. “It will be tricky for him to come back at full strength, but he has already started his rehabilitation and the injury is healing well. “This is quite a physical circuit for the riders, despite the short lap, so it won’t be easy for him but we know he is ready to push hard and recover from this bad patch. “Joan Mir has had some nice consistent finishes during the last races, and we’re confident that he can continue to build on this success. “We had a test after the race in Catalunya and we’ve worked on some small but useful adjustments which could help us in our quest. “Sachsenring is not an easy track but we’re feeling ready for the weekend.”