Our photo with the finish line in the background on the record weekend of the Sachsenring Grand Prix 2024, with more than a quarter of a million visitors from Friday to Sunday. Thanks to the newly introduced Tissot Sprint Race, there were noticeably more spectators on site, especially on Saturday.

Dramatic ninth round before the second MotoGP summer break

When the new calendar was announced last year, we had already expressed our doubts about the highly questionable planning by FIM and Dorna for 2024. Originally, the Kazakhstan GP was supposed to take place in mid-June after Mugello and before Assen. After the German Grand Prix in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, there would be a summer break, followed by four weeks until the English GP in Silverstone. But because India had been added to the calendar for September in addition to the already shaky venue Sokol, the next predictable calendar disaster promptly occurred. With flimsy justification from Dorna, the Kazakhstan round in mid-June had to be called off as feared, and because the organizer of the India weekend apparently did not want or could not meet its financial obligations, Sokol was postponed to the second-to-last weekend in September instead of this round. Despite more than half a year’s lead time, the Kazakhs had not managed to guarantee all safety requirements for June and obviously needed more time to do so. The official excuse for this postponement was a storm, but this only caused teams and drivers, especially in the paddock, to shake their heads at the renewed incompetence of FIM and Dorna. In the summer of 2024, however, there was drama not only in terms of their renewed misplanning, but also at the Sachsenring, which affected events on the shortest track on the calendar at just 3.67 km.

On Saturday, the track, which replaced the street track that had been in use since 1927 as a permanent track, was already too crowded for some people’s tastes. Originally, the plan was primarily to create a traffic safety center here, and there was no talk of World Championship races shortly after the dissolution of the GDR.

“Tourist” Bradl destroyed Marc Marquez’s Q2 hopes

After he flew off the track in the first right-hand bend on Friday afternoon while chasing a good time, there was a lot at stake for the number 93 in the first qualifying session. Marc Marquez even had to go to the medical center the day before after his high-sider to be treated for a broken finger and bruised ribs. Before that, however, the Catalan had got back on the spare motorcycle after returning to his pit and immediately drove the fastest lap up to that point – what madness! Unfortunately, from his point of view, his time of 1:20.384 was not enough to make it directly into Q2, which is why he had to compete in the first qualifying session on Saturday morning. However, what the exceptional rider experienced shortly before the end of Q1 was already the second disaster of this weekend that was so important for him. Of all people, his former teammate as Honda test rider and former Moto2 competitor Stefan Bradl played a very unfortunate role.

Marc Marquez (Gresini Honda) ahead of his pursuers – photographed by us in the penultimate corner a few seconds before his unbelievable bad luck in Q1 due to Bradl’s irresponsible driving. Up until then, his chances of winning were still absolutely intact thanks to a possible entry into the second qualifying.

The real scandal – the ridiculously mild punishment for the 6

Even the German track announcer could hardly believe what happened in the last stint and was appalled by his more than stupid driving style when he blocked the ideal line in front of 93 and its pursuers at almost walking pace, only to move out of the way far too late. Marquez had no chance at that moment to get past the Bavarian without taking his foot off the gas and, as he was only third in the session at that moment, to improve his time on the last attempt. As a result, Marc missed Q2 and was deprived of any chance of victory from the start with only 13th place on the grid on a track that offers few overtaking opportunities. The ridiculously mild “punishment” of the culprit with starting number 6, as the Swabian puts it, has a bad taste in his mouth. Presumably out of consideration for his nationality during his wildcard appearance at home, Bradl was second to last in Q1 for the sprint and race, moving back just one starting position. If not a suspension from the race, then at least a start from the pit lane would be appropriate. Especially at the Sachsenring, even a so-called double-long-lap penalty would have been too lenient for his irresponsible driving.

Unlucky Q2 rider Maverick Viñales after his heavy crash on all fours, captured by us from a special perspective on the big screen at turn 13. The Spaniard was one of the favorites for pole position and therefore did not get beyond 7th place on the grid. However, both on Saturday in the sprint and the following day in the German Grand Prix, he had to bow to his compatriot Marc Marquez.

The Tissot Sprintrace with two outstanding leading actors

Although Francesco Bagnaia took the lead from fourth place shortly after the start, there was clearly no way to beat fellow brand member and sprint specialist Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) on Saturday. The world championship leader fought his way back into the lead on lap 3 and from then on the man with the number 89 dominated the Tissot Sprint Race, which lasted a full 15 laps. Usually it is only 12, but because the track in Hohenstein-Ernstthal is so short, it was extended by three. The advantage for spectators here, in contrast to the traditional street circuit, is of course the fact that the race lap is completed after around one minute and 20 seconds, meaning that the drivers can be admired by visitors much more often than at any other Grand Prix. Spectators were also able to admire the incredible performance of the second main actor on the first day of racing, who achieved almost superhuman feats despite his injuries. After the first lap, the 93 had already gained three positions and by the third lap it was already in P8. To finish sixth in the premier class on a track with so few overtaking opportunities was a simply outstanding performance by Marc Marquez, the king of the Sachsenring. The fact that the reigning world champion Bagnaia even had to admit defeat to Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing Aprilia) was the biggest surprise of this memorable Saturday.

The layout of the very narrow and specially designed Sachsenring, with today only the start-finish line as part of the original street circuit. After curve 3 to curve 12 there are only left-hand bends, an extremely special challenge for the riders, but also for their equipment, as the right half of the tire in between threatens to cool down and thus lose grip. The result of this is heavy crashes, such as those of Marquez and Viñales in the premier class.

Dramatic climax on Sunday with a moral winner

Similar to the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez de la Frontera, Jorge Martin, the winner of the previous day’s sprint race, initially dominated proceedings at the Sachsenring. Initially even in the lead, the Spaniard only took the lead again from lap 15, which was exactly halfway through the race. The battle for victory with Bagnaia, who was then in second place, took place more on the clock than in a direct duel. But again and actually unchallenged, the man with the 89 made a similar mistake to the fourth lap and crashed over his front wheel into the gravel bed in turn 1. This cleared the way for the defending champion, who thus took the lead in the world championship again ahead of Jorge. Without wanting to diminish Bagnaia’s performance, but the man of the race was clearly the 93 as the most successful driver at the “new” Sachsenring. His recovery from 13th place on the grid can be described as legendary and he even managed to overtake his brother Alex, who was in second place, shortly before the end. In the interview afterwards, Marc understandably mentioned that this result was like a victory for him, especially sharing the podium with his brother for the first time. He also proved that he didn’t even have to win to remain king of the Sachsenring.

There is only one Marc Marquez – something that the sensationalist journalists, who were already prematurely presenting Pedro Acosta as his successor, should finally take note of. While the rookie with the starting number 31 did not live up to expectations, the Catalan with the number 93 made history again at the German GP.

Situation in the World Championship after 9 of 20 rounds

During the calendar chaos caused by the FIM and Dorna, we decided not to add any more supplements this year. The development of increasingly absurd and pointless innovations, such as the so-called track limit violations, which are highly questionable from a sporting point of view and are far too often unfairly decided by the FIM commissioners, was the last straw for us. Now that tire pressure monitoring (at least in the premier class and why only there, since it is supposedly so important for safety?) has opened the door even further to the arbitrariness of apparently power-hungry officials, we are now even questioning the sporting value of a motorcycle world championship held under such conditions. Today, the people at Dorna and the organizers in particular are obviously only interested in big money. According to the calendar, which has already been put together several times, 20 rounds are to be held after Argentina and India have been dropped, instead of the originally announced 22. After the German GP, ​​the title decision looks like it will be a neck-and-neck race between Jorge Martin and “Pecco” Bagnaia, just like last year. With his Ducati GP23 from last year, even exceptional talent Marc Marquez will have little chance of being able to influence this decision.

Jack Miller (KTM) in pursuit of teammate Brad Binder and the two Gresini Ducati private riders Marc and Alex Marquez. The Australian is the next victim of the much-vaunted “KTM family” and has to leave the orange team next season. According to the Australian, just before this decision, KTM racing boss Pit Beirer even assured him that they wanted to hold on to him and that he should not look for another team. Apparently not everyone in the MotoGP shark tank is a man of honor, no matter how you look at it.

What about the much-celebrated “rookie sensation”?

We warned early on against prematurely praising Pedro Acosta and comparing him to his role model Marc Marquez. Almost all sensationalist journalists had already calculated in advance how old he would be and how many races he had left to write history as the youngest GP winner in MotoGP. Although he was riding a much more competitive current factory machine with his GasGas-KTM than the exceptional talent Marc Marquez (who was riding a Ducati GP23 from last year), the 20-year-old from Murcia fell dramatically short of the expectations of his fans and the team. Last in the sprint race and only seventh in the German GP, ​​his result on Sunday as the best KTM rider was not very comforting. At least the writers and commentators can now finally put the topic of him being the youngest MotoGP winner to rest. The young man from Murcia has not managed a win in 18 races and his form curve has already suffered several serious downward kinks. However, this does not change the fact that his first triumph is only a matter of time and that he has done extremely well as the only newcomer in the field. Currently sixth in the World Championship standings, however, he is only two points ahead of his KTM brand colleague Brad Binder after round 9.

Pedro Acosta, who made an unconventional dismount from his GasGas-KTM, has finally been freed from the pressure of wanting to replace Marc Marquez as the youngest GP winner of all time since the Sachsenring weekend. This may even have a liberating effect on his near future and he can attack more carefree and perhaps even score his first victory in his first year in the premier class.

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