Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland

MotoGP 2016   Round 9

Positive start to the weekend for Marquez; Pedrosa looks to improve

Decidedly un-summer-like temperatures (max air 16° C, ground 19°) made the opening day of the German GP quite demanding for the riders today. The Sachsenring Circuit is already tough on tyres due to majority of left-hand corners that make it difficult to keep effective operational heat in the right-side rubber, prompting Michelin to bring an asymmetrical front tyre spec for the first time this season.

Weather in the morning’s FP1 session was even colder before a light rain forced everyone back to the pit after just a couple of exits, rendering the session almost useless. In the afternoon, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa worked hard on their RC213V setups, and while Marc was quite comfortable on his bike at the end of the day, pleased with posting the third-best lap time, Dani recognizes that he needs more time to make the most of the particular conditions.

Marc Marquez

3rd 1'22.775

“Today was a good day, although the way that it began was a little strange. In the first session we were only able to do a few laps because it started to rain slightly, but it wasn’t heavy enough to put on wet tyres. The second session was more-or-less normal, although there were low temperatures and a very cold track. We had to dial things back a little, especially at turn 11, where many riders crashed. Nevertheless, I felt quite comfortable with the bike. We want to improve on some points and have to keep working, because the forecast for tomorrow is that temperatures will improve slightly. It will be an interesting Grand Prix because of the weather, and the prediction is that on Sunday we’ll have a situation like today, when rain could fall at any time.”

Dani Pedrosa

15th 1'23.740

“Today was a very tough day because the track temperature was very low. I was riding on the limit and I saw several riders crash, especially in turn 11. Riding fast wasn’t possible, so we decided against taking risks under the circumstances. Hopefully tomorrow the weather improves, and we’ll continue working to recover our pace and try to place high up on the timesheets.”

Results Session

Copyright Free Images

For editorial use only, click here to download images.

Location Information

Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no… read more.

Circuit Records

Lerchenstraße, 09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany –  View in Google Maps

www.sachsenring-circuit.com