Quartararo dominates race over Zarco, polesitter Bagnaia falls

Already 22 points clear of the rest of the pack after his Barcelona win, Quartararo is now 34 points ahead of nearest rival Aleix Espargaro after easing to his third win of the campaign and become the first rider who wasn’t the absent Marc Marquez to win at the Sachsenring since 2012.

His championship charge was only strengthened by a costly crash for Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, a poor run to 10th for Gresini’s Enea Bastianini and Aleix Espargaro finishing a distant fourth.

Quartararo got his elbows out off the line from second on the grid as he out-braked poleman Bagnaia into Turn 1.

The Yamaha rider was on a contra strategy to Bagnaia, Quartararo opting to run the medium rear tyre while the Ducati runner was on the hard rear as track temperatures exceeded 50 degrees Celsius.

Bagnaia tried to take the lead from Quartararo into Turn 1 at the start of the second lap, but the Yamaha rider held firm under braking and muscled through the tightest of gaps up the inside to stay in front.

Quartararo proceeded to open up a lead of half a second as he began the fourth lap when disaster befell Bagnaia.

The Ducati rider crashed out exiting Turn 1 as the rear-end of his GP22 came round on him, marking his fourth DNF in 2022 and second in succession.

And it looks like it may have been fatal on his championship chances, his points gulf to Quartararo now 91 at the halfway stage of this 20-round season.

Bagnaia’s crash promoted Johann Zarco on the Pramac Ducati to second, with Quartararo now 1.2s clear in the lead.

And the Yamaha rider would continue to swell that advantage to over five seconds as he cruised to the chequered flag to claim back-to-back wins.

Zarco, who snatched second with a daring move on the inside of Aleix Espargaro at the fast downhill Turn 11 right-hander on lap two, would come under no threat in the runner-up spot as he crossed the finishing line 3.4s clear of Jack Miller in third.

The latter had to serve a long lap penalty on the fifth lap for crashing under yellow flags in FP3, which dropped him outside of the top six.

But the Australian rallied to get himself back into podium contention in the second half of the 30-lap race.

Bagnaia’s crash had put Aleix Espargaro up to third, while his Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales – who had also opted for the medium rear tyre – had worked his way from ninth to fourth early on.

Vinales was lapping slightly…