Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1139968
MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 11 / JULY 5-9, 2019 SACHSENRING/ OBERLUNGWITZ, GERMANY P68 STEFAN DORFLINGER MOTOGP LEGEND German-born Swiss rider Ste- fan Dorflinger was inducted to the MotoGP hall of fame at the Sachsenring, in acknowledgment of his domination of the now- defunct smallest class between 1982 and 1985. Riding a mono- coque-framed Kreidler, Dorflinger won 18 GPs, the first nine when it was a 50cc class, and the sec- ond after the category had grown to 80cc. The forgotten class began in 1962 and was first domi- nated by Japanese machines. It was terminated at the end of 1989. The most successful rider was Angel Nieto, with six titles. NO GO DIMAS Indonesian Moto2 rookie Dimas Ekky Pratama withdrew from the German GP after completing only three times laps in the morning practice session, worried about the effects of concussion and blurred vision, after being elimi- nated from last weekend's Dutch TT in morning warm-up after a collision with Stefano Manzi. Wor- ryingly, the decision was made by the rider and his Honda Team Asia squad, after he had been passed fit to ride by the official medical staff. MARQUEZ'S NEW CHASSIS Marc Marquez further exercised Honda's newest carbon-clad chassis at the Sachsenring, but reverted to the familiar all-alumi- num unit "for safety," he said. "I can be faster on the new chassis, but for the race, I will come back Briefly... Marquez now has a 58-point lead over Dovizioso, 185 to 127; Petrucci improved his third at 121 to Rin's 101; Vinales took fifth from Rossi at 85 points to 80. Moto2 Alex Marquez (EG-VDS Kalex) returned to the winner's circle for a fourth time this year, after miss- ing out because he was knocked off at Assen. Starting from pole, he took the lead on lap seven, then resisted fierce pressure by Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder, who had forced through from 17th on the grid. Pole had come as a surprise after a first-day crash saw Marquez' bike catch fire, and after a complete rebuild, he missed most of FP3 with ECU problems. It was another front-row starter, Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Kalex), who led away, but third qualifier Marcel Schrotter (Dy- navolt Kalex) squeezed through to lead the first lap, while Iker Lecuona (from row two) pushed his American Racing KTM into second in his wake. But Binder, who had crashed Andrea Dovi leads Jack Miller, Joan Mir, and Valentino Rossi.