The Grand Prix of Germany took place in front of another enormous 98,000 raceday crowd at the compact and captivating Sachsenring circuit. The ninth ‘stage’ of the 2024 MotoGP season saw Red Bull KTM Factory Racing trying to conquer the unique layout as Brad Binder endured 30 fast laps to classify 9th while teammate Jack Miller grabbed three points for 13th position.
Chilly winds then hot summer conditions and finally overcast and cool asphalt: the Sachsenring threw plenty of challenging circumstances at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and the rest of the MotoGP field across the three days of the ninth round of the current campaign. For the 30-lap Grand Prix on Sunday, Brad Binder and Jack Miller both tackled the 3.6km layout of never-ending corners, optimistic of preserving premium tire life and bettering their 8th and 11th scored in the sunny Saturday Sprint.
Binder made a better start but Miller was also sharp into the tight and technical first corner. Brad found himself circulating with Pedro Acosta and made his way up to the top seven but almost fell on the last lap into Turn 11, ran off track briefly and lost two spots, coming home 9th. Jack was limited by the possibilities of his rubber and made it to the flag in 13th.
MotoGP will pause for a three weekend break and then return to speed with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone during the first weekend of August, where KTM will commemorate the championship’s 75th anniversary with a special vintage livery.
Brad Binder, 9th: “We made some big changes for today’s race and everything was a bit easier to handle. It was better. The bike stopped a bit better but we clearly need to find more because the guys in front were in a league of their own. We got some valuable information to find a bit more speed and to keep the pace all the way through the race. On the last lap I lost the front down Turn 11 and lost two positions. Not ideal. I know what I am capable of and where we can be. We will keep fighting as hard as we can every session.”
Jack Miller, 13th: “Not the most ideal day. We managed to solve the front-end issues I had yesterday but we suffered from the get-go with the rear tire and couldn’t get it to hook up in a few corners. No matter what I did I couldn’t really get it to go through the first sector nicely. The others had just a bit more speed and a bit more lean angle. We got what we could out of it. We’ll keep plugging away. Saturday was a good day, today so-so. I’m happy to have the front feeling back with the bike. We are work in progress and we have 11 races to go.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “This weekend was quite unexpected. We thought we’d be in the leading group and it wasn’t to be. At least today we provided the best version of the bike to the riders that we’ve had this weekend, so perhaps we were too conservative on Friday. Today was pretty good but it was not enough. We lost too much time but looking ahead we have homework to do and we’ll be testing with Pol [Espargaro] next week. We want to be ready for Silverstone.”
Results MotoGP Grand Prix of Germany
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 40:40.063
2. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati +3.804
3. Alex Marquez (ESP) Ducati +4.334
7. Pedro Acosta (ESP) GASGAS +14.746
9. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +15.084
13. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +25.425
14. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS +25.495
World Championship standings MotoGP
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati, 222 points
2. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati, 212
3. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati, 166
6. Pedro Acosta (ESP) GASGAS, 110
7. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 108
16. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 35
17. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS, 17
KTM GP Academy
The Moto3 class is typically close and fraught but the condensed nature of Sachsenring wedged the field further together and to the point where 12 riders were disputing the podium positions. Among the group was Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jose Antonio Rueda who started from 5th on the grid and helped dictate the pace as the 23-laps counted down with plenty of position swapping and elbow rubbing. In the final critical phase Rueda was holding P2 until a technical problem caused him to slide out at Turn 1. Xabi Zurutuza had his first spin of Sachsenring at Moto3 speed and the Spanish teenager was limited by a double Long Lap penalty and ranked 16th.
Moto2 got underway with Celestino Vietti starting from Pole Position for the first time in Red Bull KTM Ajo colors. The talented Italian had burst through Q1 to slide to the P1 slot on Saturday afternoon and the grid berth helped him make a strong getaway and around the technical weave of corners until the fast drop into the second half of the circuit. Vietti’s pace kept him in the battle for the rostrum and he made it to the finish line with a hard-fought 5th: just a tenth of a second from P3 after using the absolute limit of his tire life. Marcel Schrötter completed his second appearance for the team at his home Grand Prix. The German classified 17th as he replaced Deniz Öncü who is recovering from left hand surgery.
Results Moto3 Grand Prix of Germany
1. David Alonso (COL) GASGAS 33:02.956
2. Taiyo Furusato (JPN) Honda +0.187
3. Ivan Ortola (ESP) KTM +0.339
7. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS +3.869
9. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna +5.685
14. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO +25.069
16. Xabi Zurutuza (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +38.789
18. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna +39.387
DNF. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo
DNF. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS
World Championship standings Moto3
1. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO, 179 points
2. Ivan Ortola (ESP) KTM, 121
3. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS, 120
4. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna, 115
9. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 58
12. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS, 44
14. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO, 38
15. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna, 38
22. Xabi Zurutuza (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 3
Results Moto2 Grand Prix of Germany
1. Fermin Aldeguer (ESP) 35:07.384
2. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO +2.159
3. Ai Ogura (JPN) +4.418
5. Celestino Vietti (ITA) Red Bull KTM Ajo +4.543
11. Senna Agius (AUS) Husqvarna +9.225
13. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO +10.690
17. Marcel Schrötter (GER) Red Bull KTM Ajo +14.483
25. Darryn Binder (RSA) Husqvarna +1:13.462
World Championship standings Moto2
1. Sergio Garcia (ESP), 147 points
2. Ai Ogura (JPN), 140
3. Joe Roberts (USA), 123
9. Celestino Vietti (ITA) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 55
10. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO, 53
15. Senna Agius (AUS) Husqvarna, 26
17. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO, 21
23. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 6
24. Darryn Binder (RSA) Husqvarna, 6