Winners and Losers: MotoGP 2025 German GP
- Isha Reshmi Mohan
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written by Isha Reshmi Mohan, Edited by Gabriel Tsui
From a chaotic race at the Sachsenring that took out not just riders, but entire teams, here’s a short roundup of the winners and losers from the German GP.
Winner: Marc Márquez
SHOCKER! Once again, it was an all-star weekend for Marc, marking his 73rd pole position in his 200th race start. He had a fantastic sprint session on Saturday, following Marco Bezzecchi closely until the last lap to preserve his tyres before making his move.
In the race itself, there was never any doubt about him holding his position. He established a gap over Fabio Di Giannantonio early on, while riders behind them crashed out and swapped positions until only 10 remained on the grid. Marc comfortably finished the race with a seven-second lead over his brother, who finished in second place.
Winner: Luca Marini
Returning from injury, Marini had a quiet weekend, staying out of trouble and avoiding any crashes. However, with the chaos that took out nearly half the grid on Sunday, he steadily worked his way up from 11th to a solid 6th place finish, earning valuable points for the Honda camp.
Marini missed three race weekends, Aragon, Italy, and the Netherlands, after sustaining injuries during the Suzuka 8-hour test. The team was not entirely confident about his comeback when asked about it almost a week ago. While Marini said his ultimate goal was simply to ride and ‘get back into the rhythm,’ it is safe to say he exceeded expectations with this finish.
Winner: Àlex Márquez
After being taken out in Assen with a metacarpal injury following a collision with Pedro Acosta, Álex was cleared to race at the Sachsenring. He showed incredible pace during Friday’s practice session, finishing second on the timesheets, which raised hopes for Sunday’s main event, and he delivered.
He found himself battling with Bezzecchi in the first half of the race until Di Giannantonio dropped back, which almost guaranteed him a podium spot. However, Bezzecchi also crashed out, handing Álex the 'cursed' second place. It was a strong comeback after his injury, an injury that was initially expected to rule him out of the race.
Despite losing his 1–2 Sprint streak with an eighth-place finish on Saturday, he solidifies his second place in the championship standings. A perfect way to celebrate his 100th start in MotoGP, and fortunate to share the podium with his brother again, a year after the first time we saw them together there.
Loser: KTM Camp
Tech 3 team: Running one rider short with Enea Bastianini sidelined for the weekend significantly reduced their already slim chances of scoring points, especially given their lack of recent form.
Bastianini had shown signs of illness before the practice sessions, and while the reason was initially unclear, it was later confirmed that he had been diagnosed with appendicitis and required surgery, ruling him out for the rest of the weekend. On Friday, the Tech3 team announced they would not be fielding a replacement rider.
With the team unable to capitalize on any opportunities at the Sachsenring, the weekend turned into another missed chance to turn around their season. However, we hope for a speedy recovery for the rider as the team looks forward to his return in Czechia.
Adding to this, after the Q2 session, it was reported that Maverick Viñales would be taken to the hospital for a shoulder check following his crash. He was eventually ruled out of the race after it was confirmed that he had a dislocated shoulder.
Acosta: Moving on to the factory team, Acosta had a decent qualifying session that placed him on the second row, but he had a rough sprint where he dropped to P12 after a mishap. His struggles continued in the main race, where he was forced to retire, leaving Brad Binder as the only KTM rider on track, who finished in 7th place.
Loser: Fabio Di Giannantonio
After securing a strong qualifying position and battling for second place for much of the race, Di Giannantonio’s podium hopes were dashed when he crashed at Turn 1, a corner that claimed several other riders as well.
He set the track’s lap record on Friday with a time of 1:19.071, giving him a great start to the weekend. He then put up a strong fight in Saturday’s sprint session, battling Quartararo for a podium finish. Although it didn’t go his way, it raised expectations for the main race. It was truly unbelievable to see him holding second place for as long as he did.
With Di Giannantonio retiring from the race, the VR46 team joined Tech3 in sitting out the weekend, as Morbidelli was taken out during Saturday’s sprint session, due to discomfort in his left shoulder.
Loser: Marco Bezzecchi
Similar to Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi fought hard for third against Álex in the first half of the race before losing it all in sector one. He barely had time to settle into second place, which was briefly called the ‘cursed’ second before Á took over the spot.
This drop also made Aprilia the third team to be completely out of the race, with Lorenzo Savadori crashing just moments later. He was handed a double long-lap penalty for crashing under a yellow flag, as per Simon Patterson on X, but with Jorge Martín set to return, it’s unclear when Savadori will get the chance to serve it.
It was an unfortunate way to end the race weekend, especially after a podium finish in Assen and riding high from starting on the front row for the first time. Hopefully, we’ll see more strong results, as it’s safe to say Bezzecchi is starting to get comfortable with the Aprilia. While it is still early, with Martín coming back, it will be interesting to see what the rest of the season holds for the team.
Don’t miss the next race in Czechia on the 20th of July at 11:30am BST!
