MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The Dutch TT at Assen is in glorious good health. On a coolish, windy, partly overcast and partly sunny day, nearly 109,000 fans packed the TT Circuit, some 1200 fans shy of officially selling out. They came for a lot of reasons: tradition - the circuit was handing out certificates to fans for their 50th, 60th, and even 70th attendance at the event - location, and because of the excellent state MotoGP is in at the moment.

It certainly helped that the Dutch fans have a local hero to cheer for, Collin Veijer coming within three corners of immortality before Ivan Ortolá snatched victory from him in Moto3. But given there were only 3,000 more fans at Assen than in 2023, there is not much room for the extra fans Veijer might bring in.

Throughout the 1960s, when Germany was still divided into East and West, the East German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring drew in crowds of 300,000 on race day. People would line the public roads on which the race was held to watch their heroes compete, and all too often die.

You pass a relic of both as you leave the highway and head down to the modern circuit on the western edge of Hohenstein-Ernstthal, the small Saxon town where the race is held. The road you are on is part of the original layout, which went up the steep hill, the across and down into the town and back again. And you pass the remembrance marker to Jimmy Guthrie, who died while leading a race at the circuit way back in 1937.

Sachsenring, and the region which surrounds it, are the natural home for the German Grand Prix. The road circuit has been replaced by short, tight, and twisty circuit which lays against the hillside like a coiled rope, but they still manage to cram over 100,000 fans into a tiny space. So limited is the space which the circuit has for fans that until recently, a nearby garage used to own one of the main grandstands overlooking the track, generating income which the circuit never saw. A situation which has since been remedied.

Once upon a time, the Sachsenring was Ducati's kryptonite. The circuit had everything the Desmosedici couldn't do: turn easily and hold a tight line.

Those days are long gone. In last year's Sunday grand prix at the Sachsenring, the first five bikes across the line were all Ducatis. And the other three Ducatis followed behind Jack Miller, the lone interloper from KTM to disrupt the Ducati party.

So what happened? "The bike itself is an all round package now," Jack Miller explained, the memory of riding a Desmosedici around Sachsenring still relatively fresh in his mind. "Just watching the race back from last week in Assen you can see the bike does everything."

In a rather frosty first press conference of the day, containing the three Ducati riders currently leading the 2024 MotoGP championship, Marc Marquez concurred with the Red Bull KTM Factory rider's assessment. "The Ducati is working well in every race track, compared to other manufacturers who have more up and downs, like a rider," the Gresini Ducati rider told us. "But Ducati is working well in every race track, and the tracks where they are struggling a bit because another manufacturer is faster, we are there. So here if you have turning and you have rear grip, it's done. So they have a very good compromise."

The long slog to success

The funny thing about Turn 11 at the Sachsenring is that everybody knows that it is a treacherous, treacherous place. You have just spent half a lap on the left side of the tire, you are cresting a hill where the wind tends to blow from your right, and unless it is 25°C or more, with bring sunshine, the grip when you flick right through Turn 11 and down the hill is going to be suboptimal at best.

The right side of the tire will let go as you drop off the crest and onto the right side of the tire, firing you through the gravel at 190 km/h or so. If you crash there, it is going to hurt. The gravel trap at Turn 11 has claimed more than its fair share of collarbones, scaphoids, ankles and more.

So what is most surprising about Turn 11 at the Sachsenring is that even though everybody knows it is so treacherous, they still insist on flinging themselves through the gravel on the Friday at pretty much every German GP. It has become a tradition.

This year, Turn 11 claimed 5 victims, including some pretty big names. David Alonso and Xabi Zurutuza in Moto3, Marc Marquez, Enea Bastianini, and Marco Bezzecchi in MotoGP. All of them were badly shaken up in the crash, with Marquez coming off the worst, fracturing a bone in his left index finger and major bruising to his ribs.

Let it go

The German GP at the Sachsenring is always an important round in MotoGP, but as the last race before the brief summer break, it takes on extra significance. This is the last chance to pick up some momentum going into the break, and carry that confidence through the month of July and into the second half of the season. It is also the best time to raise your value on the rider market by putting in a strong result. A lot of deals will be finalized over the next few weeks, before MotoGP returns at Silverstone.

It is especially important for Jorge Martin. Since the sprint race in Barcelona, the Pramac Ducati rider has seen his lead shrink from 44 points to just 10 after Assen. He has had to watch as Ducati Lenovo rider and double world champion Pecco Bagnaia has won three grand prix and two sprint races in a row. If there was a time to staunch the leaching away of points and turn the momentum of the championship around, it was at the Sachsenring.

For the past three MotoGP rounds, Pecco Bagnaia has been building up an unrelenting head of steam. Starting with victory at Barcelona, then dominating at Mugello and Assen, the Ducati Lenovo rider has grasped the MotoGP season by the throat and is stamping his authority over it. Round by round, race by race, Bagnaia has been eating into Jorge Martin's championship lead.

With the summer break coming up, it was imperative for Martin to call a halt to Bagnaia's march. At the Sachsenring, the Pramac Ducati rider needed to seize back the initiative and open up a gap again over Bagnaia. He needed to shift the momentum.

Martin did that in the sprint race with a comfortable win. He hadn't been able to truly escape, but he had been able to build enough of a margin to put him out of touch of the pursuing riders. And with Miguel Oliveira getting on the podium ahead of Bagnaia, Martin had been able to extend his lead by 5 points over the factory Ducati rider.

As the short summer break nears an end, contract season in MotoGP is starting to ramp up again. With the British Grand Prix at Silverstone coming into view, rider announcements are imminent. 

The first to announce will be Trackhouse Racing. In a post on social media, Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks announced that the team had "found their guy". We do not yet officially know who that 'guy' will be, but at least one of the names will be Raul Fernandez, current rider with the team, and the other is likely to be current Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jack Miller.

Who it won't be is current Trackhouse Racing rider Miguel Oliveira. According to the well-informed Italian broadcaster Sky Sports Italia, Oliveira will be riding a Yamaha next year for the Pramac Yamaha squad. Oliveira will have a contract with Yamaha directly, and use his experience to help develop the Yamaha M1.