Australian Jack Miller finished fast to overtake Aleix Espargaró and claim third at the German GP as Frenchman Johann Zarco secured second behind winner Fabio Quartararo.
Here is all you need to know:
– Frenchman Quartararo came into the race leading the 2022 rider standings with Zarco, Italian Enea Bastianini, South African Brad Binder and Miller’s Ducati looking to cut the gap to him.
– Italian Pecco Bagnaia qualified on pole on Saturday afternoon, however the Ducati rider slid off early to leave Quartararo up front with Spaniard Espargaró, Zarco’s Ducati and Miller behind.
– Zarco soon got the better of Espargaró’s Aprilia to go second with Miller serving his long lap for a free practice crash under yellow flags, which dropped him down to seventh spot momentarily.
– With Quartararo and Zarco untroubled up front, Miller began to make his way past the likes of Spaniard Jorge Martin with Spaniard Maverick Viñales forced to retire when chasing a podium spot.
– Miller eventually moved up behind Espargaró and tried unsuccessfully to get past on lap 23 and lap 26, however his persistence paid off when Espargaró ran wide on lap 28 and he finally got past.
– With Quartararo claiming back-to-back wins to extend his title lead over Espargaró to 34 points, Zarco’s second leaves him third overall 61 points behind Quartararo with Bastianini fourth 72 points behind.
– Martin ended the race in sixth, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s duo of Binder and Miguel Oliveira in seventh and ninth respectively and Bastianini one place behind to round out the top 10.
– Spaniard Raúl Fernández finished 12th, Australian Remy Gardner 15th and German Stefan Bradl 16th on a Repsol Honda with Pol Espargaró, Álex Márquez and Takaaki Nakagami unable to finish around the Sachsenring.
– With half the season now raced, the riders move on to Assen next weekend for the Dutch GP.
German GP result
1. Fabio Quartararo FRA Yamaha
2. Johann Zarco FRA Ducati + 4.939
3. Jack Miller AUS Ducati + 8.372
4. Aleix Espargaró SPA Aprilia + 9.113
5. Luca Marini ITA Ducati + 11.679
2022 MotoGP rider standings
1. Fabio Quartararo FRA Yamaha 172 points
2. Aleix Espargaró SPA Aprilia 138
3. Johann Zarco FRA Ducati 111
4. Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati 100
5. Brad Binder RSA KTM 82
