Galvanized by the landslide victory on Dutch soil, Pecco Bagnaia arrives at the Sachsenring ready to give the decisive “push” to Jorge Martin and take the lead in the standings. But watch out for the King of the German “kart track”, namely Marc Marquez who will surely have a grudge after a post-race penalty for tyre pressure that dropped him from fourth to tenth in the standings.
Il German Grand Prix It’s the last race of the European bloc before the long summer break.
Not everyone knows that…
The German Grand Prix has followed the evolution of the country from the post-Second World War (and Berlin Wall) to its reunification as a single entity. The West German Grand Prix was held from 1958 to 1977. and in parallel the East German Grand Prix at Sachsenring (the old Sachsenring of almost 9 km) from 1961 to 1990.
This year’s edition will be the 72nd (only those valid for the world championship, there are 15 others not valid) in the history of the Grand Prix, held on the tracks of: Solitude (1952, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1964), Schottenring (1953), Hockenheim (1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1966-67, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981-1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991-94), Nurburgring-Nordschleife (1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980), Nurburgring-GP (1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1995-97), old Sachsenring (1961-1972), new Sachsenring (1998 to present).
History, characteristics, accidents that occurred at Sachsenring
As for the Italian Grand Prixthe German Grand Prix has also moved its location to the major German tracks, finding its permanent home in the new Sachsenring since 1998 after a somewhat peculiar history. Having emerged from the Second World War split in two, the German Grand Prix also had a race held in the West and one in the East. With the unification of the two Germanys, the race became simply the German Grand Prix starting in 1991.
Along the lines of what happened at the Nurburgring, Assen and all the circuits built in the 20s, due to the danger of the original track, another one was built that was more functional to the development of motorcycles and increasing safety on the track. The Sachsenring also underwent the same treatment. The road track, inaugurated in 1927, measured 14.5 km and was then shortened to 12 and then to 8.8 km. From 1934 to 1939 the Sachsenring was included in the calendar of the European Championship, from 1949 instead the Sachsenring-Rennen was held which later became the East German Grand Prix. This Grand Prix entered the calendar in 1961 and then left it at the end of 1972. From 1973 the race lost its validity due to the restrictions of the East German leaders on West German riders.
The case
In 1971 Dieter Braun, a native of Ulm in West Germany, won the East German Grand Prix in the 250cc class on a Yamaha. During the awards ceremony, the crowd sang the West German national anthem. In response to this outrage, East German officials imposed restrictions on West German riders in 1973, but to their own detriment, the race was invalidated.
The current route
Due to various accidents in 1990 and not meeting the new safety standards, the old Sachsenring lost its approval and was therefore abandoned. It should be remembered that the old track crossed the city center and the nearby countryside, so there was a need for a new circuit and safe driving center. In 1995 the new Sachsenring circuit was born, then approved in 1996. Over the years it has undergone changes before arriving at the current configuration of 3.67 km which make it the shortest track in the MotoGP. It consists of 13 curves, 10 on the left and 3 on the right, has a road surface of 12 meters and the longest straight measures 700 meters.
Accidents and fires
The Sachsenring track has a specific section of the track where the most crashes and saves have occurred, namely turn 12, the entrance to the Wasserfall (Waterfall). As for accidents, three are noteworthy and in two of these Daniel Pedrosa is present: 2008 in the wet Dani falls on the first turn ending up against the air fences, in 2013 Pedrosa has a bad highside on turn 1 that forces him to withdraw while in the same year and, coincidentally, on turn 11 Lorenzo also has a bad highside that makes him fall back on the broken collarbone in Holland. But at the Sachsenring there was also a tragedy when in 2003 Edwards’ Aprilia RS Cube turned into a ball of fire.
It’s 2008, the track is wet. Pedrosa is leading the race when the fifth lap begins. Puig, his manager at the time, shows him the sign with the advantage over the pursuer, a few seconds later Dani slips in turn 1 ending up against the air fences reporting a fracture to his hand that compromises the rest of his season.
FP2 of the 2013 German Grand Prix, turn 12. With about 30 minutes to go in the second free practice session, Jorge Lorenzo is the victim of another highside before the Wasserfall nosedive, falling on his left shoulder, fresh from surgery after the Assen accident. The result? A bent plate and the Majorcan is out of the race.
FP3 of the 2013 German Grand Prix, turn 1. The international direction shows the images of Pedrosa in pain on the ground. The images then clarified the dynamics: on turn 1 the Little Samurai suffered a violent highside, falling badly between his head and left shoulder.
July 25, 2003, German Grand Prix. Colin Edwards, riding his Aprilia RS Cube, is tackling the exit section from turn 12 towards turn 13. The Aprilia’s engine explodes and the bike catches fire with it. The Texan has the quick reflexes to jump away from the fire bomb before turn 12.
The characteristic features of the German Grand Prix circuit
The fact that it is tortuous and moderately slow is already a characteristic trait of the German track. Jokes aside, the most difficult braking points are: turn 1, almost a slow hairpin bend going downhill, you have to brake hard coming from the main straight and it’s easy to lose the front; turn 4, another slow hairpin bend to the right where it’s easy to lose the front or have contact with other riders (in 2006 Pedrosa almost knocked Hayden down); turn 13, a sharp braking with the bike almost leaning over, you arrive launched from perhaps the most scenic section of the track, the Wasserfall.
The Sachsenring track does not have as many overtaking points as other tracks. They are there are only three points where you can try to attack the person in front: turn 1, coming from the main straight; turn 10, with the risk of being overtaken if you make a mistake; turn 13 at the bottom of the Wasserfall, making good use of the exit of turn 12 and the slipstream; turn 14, the last one but with the same risk as 10, that is, being overtaken.
German Grand Prix Statistics and Records
Il German Grand Prix This year it reaches the milestone of 72 editions, together with the Italian Grand Prix and the Dutch Grand Prix among the longest-running in the history of the MotoGP, considering that the 2020 edition was skipped due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 70 previous editions are divided as follows: 25 at the new Sachsenring, 22 at Hockenheim, 12 at the old Sachsenring, 10 Nurburgring-Nordschleife, 6 at Solitude, 4 at the Nurburgring-GP, 1 at Schottenring.
The very first German Grand Prix dates back to 1952 on the Solitude track in West Germany and saw the victories of Werner Haas in 125, Rudi Feigenheier in 250 and Reg Armstrong in both 350 and 500. The first East German Grand Prix dates back to 1961 on the old Sachsenring and saw the victories of Ernst Degner in 125, Mike Hailwood in 250 and Gary Hocking in both 350 and 500. The last edition, last year’s, saw the triumph of Deniz Oncu in Moto3, Pedro Acosta in Moto2, Jorge Martin in MotoGP, Jordi Torres and Hector Garzo in the two MotoE races.
As for the MotoGPthe Pole 2023 goes to Pecco Bagnaia in 1’21”409 and it’s also Pecco’sAll Time Lap Record in 1’19”765The new race record lap was set by Johann Zarco in 1’21”225.
As for the Moto2the Pole 2023 goes to Pedro Acosta in 1’23”858 while the new record lap in the race is always by Pedro Acosta in 1’23”673Raul Fernandez’s 2021 All Time Lap Record of 1’23”397 still stands.
As for the Moto3, Pole 2023 and All Time Lap Record goes to Ayumu Sasaki in 1’25”130 while the new fastest lap in the race is by Daniel Holgado in 1’25”694.
As for the MotoEthe Pole 2023 goes to Jordi Torres in 1’34”601 With the’All Time Lap Record by Matteo Ferrari in 1’27”205 and Hector Garzo’s new race record lap of 1’27”914.
MotoGP GP Germany Schedule
