German MotoGP: Quartararo wins as Bagnaia crashes out

Fabio Quartararo took a dominant win at the Sachsenring to further stretch his MotoGP championship lead. This is the first time since 2010 that the German GP featured someone other than a Repsol Honda rider on the top step of the podium.

●     Bagnaia crashes out again

●     Miller takes podium despite long-lap penalty

●     Technical issues end Vinales’ race

Quartararo dominates at Sachsenring

Quartararo dominated the race, with his only rival in the opening stages being Francesco Bagnaia. The Ducati rider, however, crashed out on Lap 3 at Turn 1, giving Quartararo free reign. The crash effectively ended Bagnaia’s title hopes, with this being his third Did Not Finish (DNF) in a row.

After this third place finish at the Catalunya GP, Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco impressed again with a second place result in Germany.

Rollercoaster of emotions for Ducati

While Bagnaia was out, Ducati did have some reason to celebrate, with Jack Miller on the podium. He was hit with a long lap penalty for ignoring a yellow flag in Q2 when Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro had gone down.

Taking the penalty early on in the race on lap 4, Miller still managed to score the last spot on the podium making his way past the likes of Jorge Martin and Luca Marini. What also helped him was Maverick Vinales’ rear ride height device malfunctioning, forcing him to retire prematurely after charging from ninth to fourth on the grid behind his Aprilia teammate, Aleix Espargaro.

Weekend to forget for Honda and Suzuki

This weekend marked the first time that Honda failed to score any points in the premier class since the 1982 French Grand Prix, which they boycotted due to safety reasons. Between Marc Marquez recovering, Takaaki Nakagami crashing, Alex Marquez retiring and Stefan Bradl failing to score any points, Honda found themselves in this deplorable scenario.

Suzuki were no better this weekend with Alex Rins already out of contention due to a broken wrist and Joan Mir crashing at Turn 1 on Lap 3 of the race, seconds after Bagnaia.

2022 MotoGP Championship standings

Quartararo came into this race with a 22 point lead over his rivals. Another dominant victory, while his closest rival Aleix Espargaro finished fourth, meant his championship lead has now extended to 34 points over the Aprilia rider. 

2022 German MotoGP results