German GP: Honda's Marquez races through dramatic Sachsenring Saturday
Jun 18, 2023
Sachsenring [Germany], June 18 : There was no doubting Marc Marquez's commitment around the Sachsenring on Saturday morning, the number 93 putting in a performance for the ages during Qualifying before running a more conservative Sprint race for 11th.
Having put Friday's difficulties behind him, Marc Marquez had a positive Free Practice session as Saturday at the German GP opened in wet conditions.
Leading the way, Marquez and the Repsol Honda Team began their final preparations before a crucial Q1 session. With the track changing from wet to dry, the session proved treacherous for everyone on track and Marquez suffered a fall at the final corner.
In true number 93 style, he immediately sprung to his feet and ran back to the garage to jump straight on his second bike with slicks fitted. The effort was rewarded with passage into Q2, but drama would strike again as Marquez fell once more at the final corner while avoiding Miller.
Initially limping, Marquez was able to return to the Repsol Honda Team garage once again where lightning-fast work by the mechanics saw him return to Q2. Setting a 1'22.013, the eight-time World Champion would earn himself seventh on the grid before a third crash, this time at Turn 1, ultimately ending his chances of further improvements.
Saturday's Sprint was a conservative affair for Marquez as he prioritized finishing the race to collect valuable information and improve for Sunday's Grand Prix. Crossing the line in the 11th, Marquez has hoped for more but approached the 15-lap Sprint with a calm and realistic mindset.
The 30-lap German Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 17:30 Local Time. Marquez is hopeful of improvements to his performance with a night to work on further setup refinements and more laps to take advantage of tyre life.
"In the morning I was able to ride well in the wet, I led the morning session. When the track started to dry, we found the same limits as yesterday. In Qualifying I was pushing a lot, I was really trying to give my maximum and pushing all the time. I want to say thank you to everyone in the team for their effort during Quali and after, they all worked a lot and did a great job. It was a lot of risk and for the race I had a calmer approach. I tried on the first lap but we didn't have the feeling, so the priority was to avoid another crash and finish the race to prepare for tomorrow. I think we can be stronger on Sunday in the long race, today many people's pace dropped towards the end, but we could keep the same pace," said Honda rider Marc Marquez.
