Photo credits: Red Bull KTM
The MotoGP race in Sachsenring in Germany has just closed its veil and Red Bull KTM has endured quite the weekend. The race was the second MotoGP fixture in a week. Paired with the difficult anticlockwise layout with a short lap-time, the track is particularly challenging to most riders. Not to mention, the weather that grazed the German circuit during the weekend was warm and partly cloudy. Rider Pol Espargaro started from the eighth grid and endured a tough battle with several riders. Eventually, he ultimately finished at 12th place. Johann Zarco, on the other hand, started off from 19th grid. Unfortunately, he lasted just over two laps when he slid into the gravel at Turn 3. Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira also crashed in Turn 3 after trying to get past it. Hafizh Syahrin was unable to gain points this round as the Malaysian finished his run at 16th.
Photo credits: Red Bull KTM
“The start was not amazing – we had a small electronic problem – but the first half of the race was OK and I was fighting with some other riders. I was trying to keep the tyre but towards the end it was finished and I was really disappointed to suffer such a big drop on the rear. I could not ride or do anything because there was so much spin. We tried our best today. Now it is time to relax a little bit and then go hard again in the Czech Republic,” says Espargaro as quoted from KTM Factory Racing. Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM)- As It Happened
Photo credits: Red Bull KTM
“My start was quite correct but there was a lot of sliding in the cooler conditions. I was expecting this and tried to keep consistent and limit the mistakes but in Turn 3 I came into the corner – maybe with too much lean – and lost the front. It’s a shame because I was in the points and that was the target. I know what I will do during the summer break and I am motivated to work and come back stronger in the Czech Republic.”
Photo credits: Red Bull KTM
“The beginning of the race was really good but after ten laps we had a very big drop. I tried to keep the pace but it was impossible in the left corners to keep the grip. It was easy to spin and many times, I was sliding a lot. I couldn’t ride the bike comfortably and was fighting especially with the left side. I just continue working hard, even if we go into the summer break now.”
Photo credits: Red Bull KTM
“It’s a sad finish this weekend because I think it was one of my strongest I had all season. I was very consistent in terms of race pace and also quite fast. It’s a shame that I made this mistake early in the race because after the crash even with a broken winglet I was quite fast and I had the pace to be inside the top 10. It is frustrating, but the most important is, that after the crash we picked up the bike and continued the race, which was very important for me in order to get information for the team and to learn from this, also to keep working hard to be fast again in Brno.”
Photo credits: Red Bull KTM
“The weekend was not so good because we are at a point where 12th position does not make us happy any more. Pol had a lot of issues in the race with the tyres and the bike. He could stay with the group in the first half of the race but then the lap-times dropped dramatically. It was not what we expected. The crash from Johann so early was not good for him or for us.” “Miguel also had a slide but afterwards his pace and lap-times were great. At least we can look at a top ten position in the championship for the summer break and now Dani [Pedrosa] and Mika [Kallio] will do some tests for us. We’ll analyse the last GPs because we’ve had some really good ones. Difficult races like today often mean you learn even more.