FULL GAS: Our special, regular blog by Kermit Abadilla from the Philippines – taking a look back at the weekend’s race action and sharing other MotGP, Moto2, Moto3, and WSBK related stuff. A fan of the sport since 8, he is interested in fitness, sports, inspiring businesses and stories, reading, and likes daydreaming and helping. He also does social media & content writing.

 

Just two weeks removed from the action-packed and much talked about Assen Grand Prix, the MotoGP World Championship returned to the Sachsenring circuit for the highly anticipated German GP. The fans had so much excitement built for this race and was very eager to see another Valentino Rossi versus Marc Marquez battle. They never got what they hoped for as Marquez controlled the race and dominated the rest of the field to seal only his second victory of the season.

But the whole event was still far from being a letdown. The races were still exciting enough and the victories of all the winners from all three classes have great significance in terms of how it affects the second half of the season and MotoGP’s image and future.

Here are the winners from each class and the importance of their victory…

 

Marc Marquez

It wasn’t a huge surprise that Marc Marquez won the German GP as he was the clear favourite after topping all free practice sessions and qualifying. Marquez used the 2014 Honda chassis for the second successive race and the results had been great. Is the reigning MotoGP world champion back? It looks like he is. However, the Sachsenring circuit is a track where the Honda excels and does not exploit the bike’s weaknesses too much so this surely benefited Marquez. But let’s not forget that Marquez also has a very good track record of winning at the Sachsenring circuit. He has now won six straight races from pole position at this track.

Will Marquez still be able to take his third consecutive MotoGP title? It will be difficult and nearly impossible, but his current form and win make the championship a little more interesting. The battle for the title could very much still be between the Yamaha pair of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo but they now have to worry about Marquez taking important championship points away from them.

The competition is now stronger. With Honda expected to test later this week at Misano to improve their bike and Marquez stating he is now having fun riding the Honda again, Rossi and Lorenzo could find the second half of the season and the title chase more difficult.

 

Xavier Simeon

Xavier Simeon’s victory might be the sweetest of all last Sunday. Despite being one of the early fallers in free practice 1, Simeon’s confidence was never shaken. The 25-year-old Belgian finally registered his first ever grand prix win after snatching victory away from pole man and championship leader Johan Zarco. Zarco appeared to be headed to his third straight win but Simeon was stronger in the end. The German GP seems to like producing new grand prix winners especially in the intermediate category. If you remember last year, Dominique Aegerter also took his maiden victory at the Sachsenring circuit.

It’s always a pleasure to see new riders succeed. It can inspire other riders especially the youngsters to work harder and let them know that everyone has a chance to step on the top of the podium one day. But Simeon’s triumph was even more special because he came from Belgium, a country that doesn’t have great MotoGP accomplishments like Spain and Italy. The last time a Belgian won a grand prix was way back in 1983.

How does Simeon’s victory help MotoGP become a bigger sport? It shows that MotoGP truly is an international sport and other nationalities can compete and prove they belong in the biggest stage of motorcycle racing. The championship was sometimes called by some fans and critics as the Spanish championship but it looks like Spain’s dominance are now over. With a good mix of riders with different nationalities winning, more sponsors will invest in the development and careers of the riders as well as in MotoGP.

 

Danny Kent

Untouchable. A man among boys. Dominant. Those are the right words to describe Danny Kent and his performance at the German GP. Kent, like Marc Marquez in MotoGP, topped all sessions from day one to three and completely demolished the field in the race the same way he did in Austin and Argentina.

Kent had a bit of a bad start but took control of the lead just a few laps later. His veteran teammate, Efren Vazquez, tried to give Kent some competition. But judging from Kent’s form in free practices and qualifying, it’s clear that Vazquez won’t be able to provide much of a threat to Kent for a full race distance. The British rider won 7.5 seconds ahead of Vazquez.

It was a perfect weekend for Kent despite suffering his first crash of the season during qualifying. His win gives him a 66 point lead in the championship. It’s not yet obviously enough to win the championship but it’s a big enough gap for Kent to relax during the summer break and have nothing to worry about.

Whilst this is good news for Kent, it’s the opposite for his main rivals Enea Bastianini and especially Miguel Oliveira who had to withdraw from the German GP because of an injury sustained in crash in free practice 1 . For sure they will spend some time in the summer break thinking how to stop Danny Kent if they want to keep their title hopes alive.