- Fernandez rounds the Sachsenring for 14th place and a creditable 12 second gap to the Sprint winner
- Jonas Folger gets fast again in front of his home crowd but fails to reach the Sprint checkered flag
- GASGAS Aspar Team’s David Alonso occupies the fifth row in Moto3™ as Jake Dixon makes the grade in Moto2™ by being 3rd fastest.
- MotoGP set to throttle through 30 laps in Germany on Sunday as the second of three back-to-back events prior to the summer break
GASGAS Factory Racing dashed north across Europe this week and swapped the heat of Mugello for the cooler and more unstable setting of Sachsenring, west of Dresden. The historic German course could not be more of a contrast to the track that hosted round six in Tuscany. Sachsenring’s slow, swirling anti-clockwise trajectory presented a very different challenge to the speed and fast turns of the previous round.
As usual, the fans flocked to the venue that has been the habitual site of the German Grand Prix since 1998. Augusto Fernandez has fond memories of the track, having dominated the 2022 Moto2 race there, and was learning to cope with the increased speed and performance of the GASGAS RC16. The Spaniard posted lap-times around the top five in the wet P3 session on Saturday morning. He was then 5th in Q1 as the tarmac dried which meant 15th on the grid. In the 15-lap Sprint he was part of a compact group going for the top ten and ended the chase just three seconds from this mark; sealing 14th and with valuable experience and knowledge for the GP tomorrow.
Jonas Folger, who shone with his best ever MotoGP finish at Sachsenring back in 2017, was operating on a familiar stage and continued his quest to find the extremities of the RC16 set-up. The German rode to 20th in Q1 and pulled out of the Sprint on the sixth lap with a simple technical glitch.
At 3.7km the Sachsenring is one of the shortest tracks in MotoGP and involves a 30-lap distance in the race tomorrow at 14.00 CEST.
Augusto Fernandez, 15th in qualifying, 14th in the Sprint:
“It is a hard race here because it is so difficult to pass. It’s hard to advance much further forward than where you find yourself on the first laps. We had good pace and we were part of a strong group. We are there, and now we have an idea for the race tomorrow. I just need a better start - because I lost a couple of positions today - and then try to save the tire.”
Jonas Folger, 20th in qualifying, DNF in the Sprint: “The race was going OK until we had a couple of issues but we know what we need to fix. Tomorrow I’d like to find some more mid-corner speed and try to fight with a couple of the other guys. I think we made good steps to get ready for the Sprint and we’ll look forward to tomorrow.”
Nicolas Goyon, GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager: “A positive result for the team this Saturday with Augusto marking his best Sprint finish. He made a couple of passes after what had been a tricky qualifying but he pushed in the race and gave a lot on the track. It gives us a decent feeling for the Grand Prix tomorrow. Jonas had a technical issue but was happy with the pace and happy with the bike. Overall, we are confident for tomorrow.”
Results Qualifying MotoGP Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 1:21.409
2. Luca Marini (ITA) Ducati +0.078
3. Jack Miller (AUS) KTM +0.083
15. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 1:27.734 (Q1)
20. Jonas Folger (GER) GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 1:29.712 (Q1)
Results MotoGP Sprint Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland
1. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati 20:21.871
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati +2.468
3. Jack Miller (AUS) KTM +3.287
14. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 +12.593
DNF. Jonas Folger (GER) GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3
Moto3 and Moto2
David Alonso and Ryusei Yamanaka worked their way into Moto3 reckoning through Q2 on Saturday. Both had been among the top ten pacesetters on a tricky Friday that started fine and then suffered through a heavy summer shower. Conditions were initially mixed on Saturday until the sunshine arrived and dried the short course that has 10 left hand corners compared to just three on the right. David grabbed 15th on the grid, faster than his teammate by one position and just a tenth of a second. Ryusei will fill a slot on the sixth row of the grid.
Jake Dixon got on the gas to mark the 3rd fastest effort in an intense Moto2 quali. The Brit flirted at the top of the time sheets on Friday and around a difficult track between wet and dry states in P2. On Saturday he re-focused to push for the best possible grid slot and was denied Pole by three tenths of a second. Izan Guevara found his way to 27th position and will now attempt Sachsenring and 25 laps on a Moto2 machine for the first time on Sunday.
Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland MotoGP photographs can be found HERE
Results Qualifying Moto3 Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland
1. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Husqvarna 1:25.130
2. Deniz Öncü (TUR) KTM+1.092
3. Ivan Ortola (ESP), KTM +1.155
15. David Alonso (COL) GASGAS Aspar Team +2.236
16. Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN) GASGAS Aspar Team +2.363
Results Qualifying Moto2 Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland
1. Pedro Acosta (ESP) 1:23.858
2. Tony Arbolino (ITA) +0.269
3. Jake Dixon (GBR) +0.300
27. Izan Guevara (ESP) GASGAS Aspar Team 1:25.911 (Q1)
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