Under the blue skies, it was time to go racing around the Sachsenring. With Marco Bezzecchi out with a collarbone fracture, his Aprilia Racing teammate Jorge Martín was looking to extend his lead as MotoGP heads to the summer break. After a sprint race victory, Marc Márquez started on pole. Ultimately, the #93 took a flag-to-flag victory, achieving a 10th win at this track in MotoGP, 13th win in total.
A Clean Start
Ahead of the race, the stewards awarded both Franco Morbidelli and Diogo Moreira three-place grid penalties for riding slow on line during Friday’s practice. Consequently, they were facing starting the race from P10 and P18 respectively. After a high speed crash in the warm-up session, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team’s Fabio Di Giannantonio was starting on the back foot. Whilst unharmed, he was having to use his second bike.
For once, all the riders were unanimous with their tyre choices. All 20 riders opted for the hard front and medium rear. The name of the game for today’s race was not tyre choice, but who could have the best tyre management. The extra metre between the rows proved positive, with everyone making it through Turn 1 cleanly. The Trackhouse MotoGP Team duo were able to get Di Giannantonio in the first lap, whilst M. Márquez was able to defend from his brother to keep the lead.
A bad day became worse for Di Giannantonio. Lap 4 saw him crash at Turn 10. Chasing down Ai Ogura, the bike slipped underneath him, sending him into the gravel. Three laps later, Turn 13 saw Joan Mir crash, sliding out as he went up the hill. The crashes weren’t over, with Álex Márquez finding the gravel at Turn 13 on Lap 9.
A Quiet Middle
With Á. Márquez crashing out of second, his brother gained a bigger lead out front. With 1.5 seconds ahead of Raúl Fernández, the #93 was managing his tyres around the Sachsenring. However, Ogura in third was lapping the fastest of all. Hot off of his maiden win in Assen, the #79 was looking to continue his positive results.
As the race reached halfway, the battle for second was heating up. Acosta was hot on the heels of Ogura, who in turn was chasing down his teammate. However, gaps were forming across the field as riders looked to preserve their tyres. LCR Honda replacement rider, Cal Crutchlow, was having a solid performance, overtaking both Maverick Viñales and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu. With three riders out, this saw the british rider set to take his first point since 2023.
The King of the Ring Strikes Again
With ten laps remaining, the gap to Fernández was growing. Márquez had broken free and was 2.3 seconds out front. His Ducati Lenovo teammate, Francesco Bagnaia, was able to find some pace and was closing in on Martín to mount a battle for P5.
After a quiet middle, the end was picking back up. Unfortunately, Crutchlow crashed in Turn 3, causing the fourth yellow flag of the race. Whilst the gaps out front were growing, the battle for the top 10 places was coming alive. Instead of chasing Márquez, Fernández instead turned his sights to defending from his teammate. Eventually, Ogura won the battle and took P2.
Further back, Bagnaia was finally challenging Martín. The pair remained close and were switching positions, however Martín was able to maintain his P5 position. In the closing stages, Jack Miller’s tyres fell off and he fell through the pack. Vinales entered the pits on Lap 27, ending his race early.
Despite being faster than Márquez, Ogura was out of laps to make up the gap. Ultimately, Márquez showed why his nickname is The King of the Ring. Winning flag-to-flag by 1.996 seconds, he took his 13th win at the Sachsenring. With ten wins coming in MotoGP, he matched Giacomo Agostini for the most wins at a single circuit.
Championship Standings Following Sachsenring
With five riders DNFing, the 15 who finished the race took points. Here were the final results:
Today, the Sachsenring proved crucial for the 2026 championship battle. With Bezzecchi out, he fell down the standings. Going into the summer break, Martín leads the championship. Finishing second sees Ogura jump up to second, 14 points behind. And, after being 102 points adrift upon his return, Márquez is now 18 points behind in third.
“It was a special weekend, I was super concentrated because as I said on Thursday, if I want to have some chance to win the championship I need to attack here, and we attacked. The fact is that we need to do the things when we feel strong, so that’s what we did in these last races. I’m super happy to achieve 10 victories in MotoGP Class here at the Sachsenring, a special number, and thank you to all the crowd and all the fans.”
~ Marc Márquez
Now, MotoGP faces its summer break. Three weeks off between the two halves of the 2026 season. Can Márquez continue his recent form when we come back, or will Aprilia Racing bounce back after some unfortunate weekends. Next up, MotoGP heads to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. The series returns on the 7-9th August.