Ride to Survive

Marc Márquez may have retained his crown as the Sachsenring King, but it was far from straightforward

- Report: Gaurav Davare

MARC MÁRQUEZ (Ducati Lenovo Team) and the Sachsenring are a match made in heaven as the six-time premier class champion has won there eight times in the premier class, more often than not in a dominant fashion. So, it's no surprise that in a dominant 2025 season, no other rider headed into the Sachsenring weekend as a guaranteed favourite as Marc Márquez.

Despite all the momentum, however, things weren't completely straightforward. The weather gods cooked up a storm in qualifying, and it was quite a close affair as Marc took pole position by just over two tenths of a second, ahead of Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR). Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) completed the front row in third position.

Sprint

WET WEATHER CONDITIONS continued into the Sprint, and it almost ended in disaster for Márquez as he dropped down to sixth after the first corner. Meanwhile, Bezzecchi managed to take the lead and looked set for a comfortable win. Marc, on the other hand, didn’t let a poor start faze him as he scythed his way up the field and in no time was chasing Bezzecchi down. It went down to the final lap in the end, where Marquez made a lunge into Turn One, and while it initially seemed as if he went wide, he stuck around the outside line to gain the inside line for the next corner, taking the lead and winning the Sprint for the 10th time this season.

The 2021 champion, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha), completed the podium in third place.

Race