eni Grand Prix of Germany 2013

Posted on Jul 08, 2013 by Nick Harris

ROUND EIGHT 2013 MotoGP™ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - SUNDAY JULY 14

Oxfordshire’s Bradley Smith is recovering from an operation to have a screw inserted into a cracked scaphoid in his left wrist. Despite the discomfort he finished ninth in Holland and will be looking for a less painful ride on Sunday to continue the solid start to his MotoGP career.

NOT QUITE ANDY MURRAY BUT GETTING CLOSE
Andy Murray’s tennis victory at Wimbledon on Sunday was the first British home win for 77 years. That’s a very long time even by MotoGP standards which are also crying out for records to be broken.

The only British winners at the British Grand Prix since it came to the mainland from the Isle of Man in 1977 in any of the two wheel classes are Ian McConnachie who won the 80cc race at Silverstone in 1986 and Scott Redding the 2008 125cc race at Donington. No other British rider has won his home grand prix on two wheels.

The last British winner in the premier class was Barry Sheene with victory in the 1981 Swedish Grand Prix in Anderstorp.

Cal Crutchlow became the first British pole setter in the premier class for 11 years when he led qualifying at the last round of the MotoGP World Championship in Holland. Like Andy Murray it is time for some of those records to be smashed.


PEDROSA POINTS TO HISTORY TO HALT YAMAHA CHARGE
The MotoGP™ Championship leader Dani Pedrosa arrives at the Sachsenring with history on his side as he prepares to halt the recent Yamaha onslaught in round eight of the title chase. The Repsol Honda rider chases his fourth successive victory at the 2.281 mile circuit as he defends his nine point lead in the championship over World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Yamaha has won the last three grands prix with two wins for Lorenzo and victory at the previous round in Holland for his team-mate nine times World Champion Valentino Rossi.

Lorenzo returns to the saddle less than two weeks after his unbelievable fifth place in Holland just 36 hours after having a plate and eight screws fitted to mend a broken left collarbone. The tight demanding Sachsenring circuit will be a very different test for the Spaniard as he fights to keep Pedrosa’s lead to a minimum and he will again be looking to team-mate Rossi for help. The Italian scored his first grand prix win for nearly three years in Holland and has a very impressive record at the Sachsenring with four MotoGP victories.

Throw Pedrosa’s team-mate Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow into the 30 lap mix and it should be another classic encounter. In similar style to his team-mate Marquez chases his fourth successive Sachsenring victory after 125 and Moto2 wins. He has only finished off the podium once in his rookie MotoGP season and is third in the championship 14 points behind Lorenzo while Crutchlow has put the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha on the podium three times. He’s fourth in the championship just two points in front of Rossi.

It’s a massive weekend for German rider Stefan Bradl who’s come into decent form on the LCR Honda securing his first MotoGP front row start at the last round. The former Moto2 World Champion is seventh in the championship sandwiched between the two factory Ducati’s of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden who’s finished on the Sachsenring podium three times.

Former 125cc World Champion Alvaro Bautista finished seventh in Holland after crashing out in the two previous rounds on the Go&Fun Gresini Honda and is just three points in front of top CRT rider Aleix Espargaro who is a constant thorn in the side of the prototype machines on the Power Electronics Aspar ART bike. The Spanish rider is tenth in the championship three points in front of Bradley Smith who’s making steady progress in his MotoGP debut season.

Michele Pirro continues to replace the injured Ben Spies at Ignite Pramac Ducati while Ivan Silva rides for the Avintia Blusens FTR team with Hiroshi Aoyama still unfit with a finger injury.


SACHSENRING FACTS AND FIGURES
Circuit Length: 3.671kms
Width: 12 m
Pole Position: Left
Longest Straight: 700m
Left Corners: Ten
Right Corners: Three
Pole Position Record: Casey Stoner/Ducati 1.21.067 (2008)
Lap Record: Dani Pedrosa/Honda1'21.846 (2011)


TELEVISION TIMES
BBC/BRITISH EUROSPORT
Friday 12 July
08:55 – 09:40 MotoGP FP 1 IPTV & Online
12:05 – 15:00 Moto3/MotoGP/Moto2 FP 2 IPTV/Online and British Eurosport 2

Saturday 13 July
08:50 – 09:40 MotoGP FP3 HD Red Button, Connected TV and Online
11:20 – 15:05  Moto3 and Moto2 Qualifying Red Button and British Eurosport 2
13:00 – 14:00  MotoGP Qualifying BBC1 HD

Sunday 14 July
09:45 Moto3 and Moto2 races Red Button and British Eurosport 2
12:30 – 14:00 MotoGP race BBC 2 HD
14:00 – 14:30 MotoGP Extra Red Button