The German Grand Prix will remain on the MotoGP calendar at the Sachsenring until at least the 2031 season, following last weekend’s record crowds of over a quarter of a million people across four days.
However, the new deal from series organiser Dorna is likely to have come with a caveat: that necessary safety modifications are made, something called for by Sunday’s podium finishers following a series of big crashes and near misses in both wet and dry conditions across the weekend in all three classes.
The extension of the deal, rumoured about during the weekend and coming as no surprise when it was formally announced by Dorna and the Free State of Saxony’s government on Tuesday, will come as welcome news to the unopposed King of the Sachsenring Marc Marquez, who added another two victories to his new career tally of 13 by taking victory in both sprint and main event.
In fact, such is his love of the shortest circuit on the MotoGP calendar, he even jokingly agreed after the race on Sunday that he would put his hand in his own pocket to keep the circuit on the calendar if that was needed!
“If I need to add some money, I will, don’t worry!” he joked in the post-race press conference when asked about the potential contract extension, something that brother Alex Marquez and team-mate Pecco Bagnaia immediately admitted they’d bid against.
“We can see this weekend that the racetrack was full. This year, I saw more and more people in the grandstands, and it’s a nice event.”
However, while Marquez might be happy that MotoGP will remain at the circuit until what is now likely after he has retired from the premier class, he also admitted that there needs to be some work completed at the venue as part of the new deal.3
This weekend saw a number of fast crashes for riders like Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales in MotoGP, as well as multiple red flags including one that brought the Moto2 race to a premature end when Albert Arenas’ and Marco Ramirez’s machines punctured the air fencing at turn one before firing the bikes back into the path of the oncoming racers.
“This is one of the race tracks that I love but some walls are at the limit,” Marquez told The Race. “Super on the limit.
“Especially in wet conditions. It looks like when you crash in wet conditions, you increase the speed when you touch the tarmac. It’s true that we have good protection with the air fence, but it’s obvious that it’s not a race track like Qatar where you never arrive in the walls.
“They are working on it.”
