Recharged and re-suited, MotoGP wends its way from Barcelona to the forested, ex-road circuit of the Sachsenring, near Chemnitz in southeastern Germany. For some reason a memory about the circuit that sticks with me was a Fast Show-style moment during Max Biaggi's press conference after he won the race in 2004. He conducted the entire interview in Italian, save for the words "Mickey Mouse Circuit", which he left hanging there mid-sentence in English. There you have it: Max Biaggi's self-loathing and a tepid review of the circuit which has been a permanent home for the previously somewhat peripatetic German Grand Prix since the year 1998. (The old pre-war road circuit, which the current pit straight runs parallel to, held a separate world championship DDR Grand Prix for about a decade before the politics of East German closed the race to western bloc riders after 1972.) For all that, it's an interesting and quirky layout, with its very short lap, anticlockwise direction and contrast between the amphitheatrical section full of second-gear corners and the fast and scary "Waterfall" section behind the pits. Please supply your own memories, but I can think of two classics at the circuit in 2000 (where a Valentino Rossi charge fell just short as Alex Barros preserved the final iota of tyre grip) and 2006, when Rossi fought a lot of Honda riders and won.
So much for nostalgia. What's been going on in MotoGP lately? For a start, KTM got their first win of the season after beating Ducati's Johann Zarco and Jack Miller across the line. After many of us faithlessly gave them up for dead, the Austrians have roared back with team leader presumptive Miguel Oliveira scoring a second place in Italy and a win in Catalunya. Beyond that, we also saw the most consequential case of zip trouble this side of There's Something About Mary as Fabio Quarataro dropped through the order, and was ultimately penalized, as his leathers came undone midrace. As usual the other Yamaha riders weren't around to pick up the slack. What about Germany? You may have read a lot of hype that this is Marc Marquez's best chance of the year to get a victory. This may seem like a stretch for a guy whose best finish this year has been seventh, but in the case for the defence there is the fact that having won at the Sachsenring on a 125 in 2010, he has literally never lost a race there since. So in a sense, we'll get a newsworthy result whatever happens. Also relevant to the German Grand Prix is that Alex Rins is back after his on-track bicycle crash before the Catalan GP weekend, and that Gresini Racing have announced they'll be leaving Aprilia to sort out their own bikes for 2022 and field a couple of Ducatis instead. Avintia rider Enea Bastianini and Moto2 guy Fabio Di Giannantonio have been hired to twist throttle, squeeze brake, turn headstock etc.
Here's the schedule: as usual take off an hour if you're in the UK -- important thing to remember is that big race begins one hour before F1's French Grand Prix. I can't guarantee that more will happen in Germany on Sunday but I think it probably will.
Friday, 14 May
9am: Moto3 practice 1
9.55: MotoGP practice 1
10.55: Moto2 practice 1
1.15pm: Moto3 practice 2
2.10: MotoGP practice 2
3.10: Moto2 practice 2
Saturday, 15 May
9am: Moto3 practice 3
9.55: MotoGP practice 3
10.55: Moto2 practice 3
12.35pm: Moto3 qualifying
1.30: MotoGP practice 4
2.10: MotoGP qualifying
3.10: Moto 2 qualifying
Sunday, 16 May
8.40am: Moto3 warm-up
9.10: Moto2 warm-up
9.40: MotoGP warm-up
11: Moto3 race
12.20pm: Moto2 race
2: MotoGP race
So in summary, practice starts tomorrow. Should be fun! Watch out for Marquez!
