German GP - MotoGP Riders Ratings

By PozzA

Hello everyone! It was a weekend of superb racing action across all 3 classes this weekend in the Sachsenring! A highly dramatic race which saw a race leader crash 2 laps from the flag, a new championship leader, and even brothers on the podium for the first time in 27 years! Decided I was going to try out doing some rider ratings this weekend, just sharing some of my thoughts on how well (or how not so well) the riders went! Starting off with MotoGP ratings today, Moto2 and Moto3 ratings will come later on in the week. Hope you guys enjoy it!

@VR46

Factory Ducati:

Pecco Bagnaia - 9/10

Podium in the Sprint, a 4th Sunday race win in a row and he enters the summer break with the championship lead. Only 10 points in it but mentally this weekend could be so important for Bagnaia’s title ambitions. Brilliant weekend for Bagnaia in his 200th Grand Prix start, can’t ask for much more to go right for him.

Enea Bastianini - 7.5/10

P4 in both the Sprint and main race for the Beast, solid weekend overall for Enea. Showcased some of his signature late race pace, but ended up getting held up in a battle with Morbidelli so couldn’t fight the Gresini duo up ahead. 

Pramac:

Jorge Martin - 8/10

This rating feels quite hard to give, because Jorge Martin was so good for about 99% of the weekend. Qualified pole and took the Sprint win on Saturday. Led 23/30 laps on Sunday, but yet again threw another potential win and crucial points away, crashing at turn 1 with 2 laps to go. Thankfully he has the whole summer break to regroup and will hope to be back in Silverstone.

Franco Morbidelli - 7.5/10

Much improved weekend from Morbido, seems like he’s finally adjusted to the Ducati. Ran as high as 2nd on Sunday but in the end finished 5th in both races. Good points for the Italian, and he carries good momentum into the summer break.

Gresini:

Marc Marquez - 8.5/10

Another very strong weekend for Marc Marquez despite a low starting position and some minor injuries, of which he picked up in a monster highside into turn 11, which claimed a handful of victims in all classes throughout the weekend. Only managed to recover to P6 in the Sprint, but fought through to P2 in the main race.

Alex Marquez - 7.5/10

Overall, a weekend Alex Marquez can be happy with. Only took P9 on Saturday’s Sprint, but turned up when it mattered on Sunday. Ran in the podium places for most of the back end of the race, aided by Martin’s late disaster, but you have to finish to score points and Alex did. The Marquez boys also became the first brothers to stand on the podium together since 1997. To put that into perspective, Kate was around 4 years old and myself and Kelly were -10.

VR46:

Marco Bezzecchi - 5/10

Yet another difficult weekend for Bezz. Made Q2 via the Q1 route, but only managed to qualify 12th. No points in the Sprint with a P10 finish, and he matched that result in the race, this time P10 wielding 6 points. Had a big crash at turn 11 early on in the weekend which would’ve knocked his confidence.

Fabio di Giannantonio - 5/10

A weekend to forget for Diggia, and none of it was really his own fault. Had a crash at turn 1 during Practice, and it looked as if he dislocated his shoulder. Went to the medical centre and was declared fit to ride, but wasn’t able to ride comfortably for the rest of the weekend. Finished out of the points in the Sprint and had to retire from the race with a rear tyre issue.

@Aprilia Racing

Factory Aprilia:

Maverick Vinales - 6/10

Yet another rider who struggled this week after having a hefty crash during the practices. Vinales had to endure a massive highside exiting turn 10, being bashed up by his bike a couple of times. Managed to pick up 7 points as the sole rider for the Factory Aprilia team, with Aleix Espargaro and Lorenzo Savadori out of action with their own injuries. Vinales leaves Germany battered and bruised along with many other riders in the paddock.

Aleix Espargaro - N/A

Suffered a nasty injury in Assen, only managed 3 laps on Friday morning before deciding the pain was too much and packing it in for the weekend. Get well soon Aleix.

Trackhouse:

Miguel Oliveira - 7.5/10

Massive improvement this weekend for Trackhouse in general, the team having undoubtedly their best weekend in their short existence. A very good weekend for Miguel Oliveira as well, qualifying on the front row, taking his first Sprint podium of the season and bringing a top 6 home for the American team. 

Raul Fernandez - 6.5/10

It was a promising weekend on the other side of the Trackhouse garage as well, but it did seem that Raul Fernandez struggled a lot more with maintaining tyre life over the Sprint and race distances. He fell from P3 down to P14, but had a suspected tyre issue which contributed massively. He ever really got going in the main race either, but brought home a top 10, so still a good result. Fernandez should also be getting the 2024 Aprilia in Silverstone, so expect even more improvements.

@Rob Gray / Polarity Photo

KTM:

Brad Binder - 6.5/10

Another weekend full of struggles for all 4 KTM machines, but once again Brad Binder looked up there as the strongest of the lot. P8 in the Sprint and P9 in the Race, only being beaten by Pedro Acosta among the KTM contenders. Still work to do for KTM to continue fighting at the top.

Jack Miller - 5/10

No different for Jack Miller either, was saying all weekend that as soon as they found a setting that worked on the front end, the rear end started playing up. Work still needs to be done on finding setups that work, but Jack was vocal in saying that he’s feeling more comfortable with the bike below him. No points in the Sprint with a P11 finish and P13 in the race.

Tech3:

Pedro Acosta - 5.5/10

Not the worst weekend for the Rookie, however he did lose the chance to become the youngest winner in MotoGP. Easy contender for top KTM alongside Binder. Had a runoff into the gravel during the Sprint and was last of the finishers. P7 in the race is a strong result for Acosta, and I’m sure he’ll be fighting back at the top later on in the season.

Augusto Fernandez - 4/10

Another forgettable weekend for Augusto, in which he was comfortably the slowest of the 4 KTM bikes. Really not much else to say. P16 in the Sprint and P16 in the main race. Originally finished P14 but was hit with a tyre pressure penalty post-race, demoting him from the points.

@HRC

Yamaha:

Fabio Quartararo - 4.5/10

Another struggling weekend for Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha as a whole. Never really looked to be competing high up in the field. Credit where credit’s due though, he was yet again clear of the rest of the Japanese bikes, but still definitely work to be done to start fighting in the top 10 again. P13 in the Sprint and P11 in Sunday’s race was all the Frenchman could muster up in his 100th MotoGP race.

Remy Gardner - 4/10

REMY GARDNER IS BACK! Standing in for the injury-hit Alex Rins, the Australian got the call up from Yamaha to make his MotoGP return having been dropped by KTM at the end of 2022. Being his first time riding a MotoGP bike since 2022 and his first time onboard the Yamaha, he absolutely did not do a bad job. Within a second of his teammate Quartararo in Practice showed promising signs. Results obviously weren’t much to shout about, though he did finish ahead of Joan Mir in the Sprint. Finished ahead of Stefan Bradl in the race but the German was hit with a tyre pressure penalty. Overall, not the worst of weekends for the stand in rider.

Honda:

Joan Mir - 3/10

Another race weekend to forget for Joan Mir, and pretty much Honda as a whole. 2nd last in the Sprint, only ahead of Acosta who had a journey through the gravel, and P18 in the race, only ahead of Gardner and Bradl, the German hit with a penalty post race. Finished behind Honda stablemate Johann Zarco and Augusto Fernandez, who were both hit with 16 second penalties for tyre pressure infringements. Honda just look so lost at the moment. 

Luca Marini - 4.5/10

HE’S FINALLY SCORED A POINT IN 2024! He may have only finished P16 on track, losing 15th on the final lap. However, he was a beneficiary of Augusto Fernandez’s penalty, promoting him up to P15 and securing his first point as a factory rider, and his first point for Honda, as well as his first point of 2024. Kelly was so close to cursing yet another rider as she was screaming about Marini in P15 with half a lap to go before Nakagami flew past him, but she was saved in the end. The Kelly curse still exists though :).

LCR:

Johann Zarco - 3/5

Same story as the rest of the Honda’s. No points in the Sprint, no points in the race, hit with a 16 second penalty on Sunday for a tyre pressure infringement during the race. He did still manage to finish ahead of Mir, but still very little can be taken positively from this weekend.

Takaaki Nakagami - 4/5

The only real positive for Nakagami is that he was the top scorer for Honda, taking P14 home in the race courtesy of tyre pressure penalties. He was the only Honda in the points on pure pace though, so have to give him at least some credit. Same story as every other Honda this weekend though, still comfortably the worst bike on the grid.

Wildcards:

HRC:

Stefan Bradl - 2/10

Absolutely nothing to write home about this weekend for the HRC wildcard. Obviously it was not his job to be fighting, Honda really just need the data at the minute. But he was hit with a grid penalty for impeding Marc Marquez on the final Q1 laps. P19 in the Sprint and P20 and last in the race. Hopefully he brought home some good data for Honda though. I’d hazard a guess they do already know the bike is bad though.