Aprilia doesn’t think it can win at the Sachsenring—Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez are aiming only for the top 6—Marc Marquez sees his own body as his only rival
After two victories by Marc Marquez at Balaton Park and in Brno, Aprilia—and especially the Trackhouse satellite team—dominated the action most recently at Assen. In the Sprint, Raul Fernandez triumphed ahead of Ai Ogura, and in the Grand Prix, Ogura claimed his first victory ahead of Fernandez. Marquez took home sixth and seventh place from “the Cathedral.”
However, the Aprilia riders don’t believe they can deliver a similar performance this weekend at the Sachsenring. “Our goal for this weekend is to finish in the top six,” says Ogura.
His reasoning for this “modest” goal is: “The Sachsenring has always been a tricky track for me. I remember we really struggled here last year, so yes, top 6.”
Ogura’s teammate Fernandez assesses their chances in much the same way. He, too, believes he won’t be able to contend for the win at the Sachsenring: “It’s not the same kind of track as Assen; here, Ducati might be a bit stronger than us.”
And how did the Spaniard arrive at this prediction? “Well, what I saw at Assen is that our bike makes a slight difference in the fast corners.”
“But in the stop-and-go sections, I can say that Ducati has a slight edge over us. And this is a track that doesn’t really have many fast corners. It’s more of a stop-and-go track.”
“For that reason, and also because Marc has about ten wins here, I can say that this is a Marc track,” said Fernandez, who clearly stated: “Ducati and Marc are the benchmark.”
As Marquez’s Ducati teammate, Francesco Bagnaia can see exactly from the data what makes the reigning world champion so exceptional at the Sachsenring.
“He has no weaknesses on the left-hand side here. I think he’s by far the man to beat,” Bagnaia also names Marquez as the favorite for the Sachsenring. “But if we do a good job, we can get close to him.”
“However, I still need to find that extra something to keep up with him. This track isn’t my favorite, but I’ve always done well here. I’ve had some good results here. If I can fight for the podium, that would be good.”
Marquez: “My biggest rival is my physical condition”
In the run-up to the race, Marquez is being touted by everyone as the clear favorite for the Sachsenring. If he were to actually win, it would be his tenth MotoGP victory on this track. He would break several of Giacomo Agostini’s records.
When asked how one can be so fast at the Sachsenring, Marquez replies: “Ask ‘Diggia,’ who holds the lap record. I don’t hold the lap record.” Fabio Di Giannantonio holds the record with a time of 1:19.071 minutes, set in 2025.
“I mean,” Marquez continued seriously in response to this question, “I usually ride better in the left-hand turns. In the first part of the season, it’s true that I wasn’t good in the left-hand turns either.”
“But now I’m starting to feel better and better, at least in the left-hand turns. We’ll see if I can have a good weekend. My biggest rival—or what worries me the most—is my physical condition.“
”I’m not worried about the rest. It’s true that Assen had one mindset; here, it’s a different one. You start with FT1 and try to figure out where the pace is, but I’d like to fight for the podium,” though Marquez doesn’t mention the word “victory” himself.
Bezzecchi is still feeling the effects of his Assen crash
For Marco Bezzecchi, the Sachsenring will be a race weekend he has to get through following his serious crash at Assen so that he can then recover in peace during the three-week summer break.
“Physically, I’m very far from 100 percent,” says the Aprilia factory rider. “So my goal right now isn’t a typical weekend goal. I hope to do well.”
“All I’m thinking about is trying to get on the bike on Friday, and hopefully I’ll feel good. Overall, I have to pace myself—my energy, everything—for the entire weekend.”
Is there a theoretical possibility that Bezzecchi might end the weekend early? “Well, we’ll see. I hope not, but you never know. I’d like to finish the first half of the season with a good result.”
“But right now, that’s not the goal. The goal is to see how I feel on Friday. Then we’ll talk Friday night, and I’ll tell you what I expect for Saturday, and so on through Sunday.”
