Defending champion Marc Marquez won the German MotoGP with a dominant race ahead of Dani Pedrosa.It was the Spaniard’s first victory since the second race of the season, at Austin in April – but his sixth in six years at the Sachsenring circuit.
Championship leader Valentino Rossi was third but extended his overall lead over Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.
Rossi – chasing his first title since 2009 – now leads Lorenzo by 13 points at the halfway stage of the season.
MotoGP standings after the German Grand Prix |
|
|---|---|
| 179 points | Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha |
| 166 | Jorge Lorenzo (Spn) Yamaha |
| 118 | Andrea Iannone (Ita) Ducati |
| 114 | Marc Marquez (Spn) Repsol Honda |
Marquez was utterly dominant in the 2014 season, winning 13 of 18 races, but has been off the pace in 2015.
His second win of the season leaves him fourth in the standings, 65 points behind Rossi.
Lorenzo – winner of four races this season – made a fine start but Marquez soon sliced past to take the lead.
Marquez then moved clear as Rossi fought out a duel with his team-mate Lorenzo, while Marquez’s Repsol Honda team-mate Pedrosa – back on form after missing three races at the start of the season with an arm problem – moved his way past both Yamahas to take second, his best result of the year.
British riders Bradley Smith and Cal Crutchlow finished sixth and seventh respectively.
In the Moto3 class British rider Danny Kent won for the fifth time this season to extend his lead to 76 points and enhance his chances of becoming the first Briton to win a world championship in any class since Barry Sheene in 1977.
In the Moto2, Belgian Xavier Simeon won his first race of the season while Johann Zarco stayed clear at the top of the standings with a second place. British hope Sam Lowes – third in the overall standings – finished fifth.