Written by Kanzah Maktoum, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Honda rider Marc Marquez has withdrawn from racing in Sachsenring, following five crashes at the event. The Spaniard’s latest crash during this morning’s warm-up session resulted in a fracture in his right hand.
His tumultuous series of crashes began in FP2, when he lost the front end and wiped out Zarco’s Ducati, just as the Frenchman was exiting the pitlane. Despite the fact that neither rider was hurt, Marquez and Zarco disputed as he placed the blame on the other. The FIM later notified riders that the competitor exiting the pitlane had to be wary of any oncoming traffic.
Up until that point, Marquez's practice session had been challenging; on a crucial turn 11 right-hander, he gave his Honda the middle finger before gathering himself.
Marquez finished seventh on the grid after crashing a further three times throughout the course of the two qualifying sessions.
During the 15-lap sprint, he was momentarily running fifth, but multiple early alerts on his Honda caused him to back off, and he fell to eleventh. In light of the crashes he had already experienced, he claimed that the risks he was taking did not outweigh the outcomes.
Marquez's fifth collision of the German Grand Prix weekend occurred on Sunday morning, during the 10-minute warm-up session, when he was thrown from his Honda while approaching Turn six.
Speaking to DAZN later, Marquez commented on the situation:
"After four or five crashes, especially the one this morning, well, I don't feel ready to race, to do the race. And I decided 'calm down'... and in Netherlands even more,"
"I don't feel ready. I have many bumps in my body, especially in my ankle, a fracture [to my hand]... I don't feel ready."
Marquez crashing means there will be only one Honda motorbike on the starting grid, of Takaaki Nakagami, after Joan Mir and Alex Rins were already slated to miss the event, prior to the commencement of the weekend itself.