MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 9 / JUNE 30-JULY 2, 2017
SASCHENRING / OBERLUNGWITZ, GERMANY
P76
lap time, and finally get away."
Marquez had started from
pole and led Pedrosa (Repsol
Honda) and Jorge Lorenzo
(Ducati Team) for the first couple
of laps. Lorenzo was one of only
two riders (the other indepen-
dent Ducati rider Karel Abraham)
to gamble on the softest of four
tire options front and rear, and
after he ceded third to Folger on
lap three, he would drop away
steadily.
Folger outbraked Pedrosa
for second at the bottom of the
Waterfall hill on lap five, and
after that the Spaniard steadily
lost touch, although his third
place was never threatened. He
still win it. I could follow Marquez
quite well, and I couldn't believe
we could make a gap. I made
a mistake at turn one and lost
a bit, and as I tried to recover I
burned the tire."
Even so, it was only in the last
three laps that Marquez could
make a significant gap, finally
winning by 3.3 seconds.
"It was a fast race—the rhythm
was incredible," said Marquez.
"I was riding good…then Jo-
nas overtook me." He mimed
extreme surprise. "I thought
maybe it was just while he was
on new tires, but he stayed
there. In the last laps, I was
able to take two-tenths off my
played mild havoc throughout
the two days of practice and
qualifying.
It came up with a new hero, as
class rookie Jonas Folger took
a page out of Monster Yamaha
teammate Johann Zarco's book.
Urged on by a crowd of more
than 77,300, the German not
only followed the two factory
Hondas but actually took the
lead ahead of Marquez on the
sixth of 30 laps around the gid-
dying 2.28-mile track.
Folger had set a new record
two laps before, and even after
Marquez had reversed the posi-
tions five laps later, the 23-year-
old said that, "I thought I could
Danilo Petrucci (9) had
yet another run-in with
a rider, this time home
hero Folger, and dropped
steadily to 12th. Valentino
Rossi (46) would be fifth,
Jorge Lorenzo (99) a
lonely 11th, and Andrea
Dovizioso (04) sixth.
