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Image Gallery: 2015 German MotoGP

Action images from the Sachsenring in Germany

July 14, 2015

2015 German MotoGP - Image courtesy of Yamaha

At the start of the race, Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo rode took over the lead with his trademark outside line in the first turn.

2015 German MotoGP - Marc Marquez - Image courtesy of Honda

After passing Jorge Lorenzo on lap 4, Marc Marquez steadily pulled away to win by more than two seconds over his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa. The win is the sixth in a row at the Sachsenring for Marquez. "In Assen we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel; after Barcelona which was very hard, I felt good on the bike again thanks to the changes we made. We have confirmed that they worked here at this circuit, but I want to be cautious because I am aware that this circuit has always been very good for me and also for the Honda. We have to keep working, because on the laps that I did behind Lorenzo I saw that in some aspects the they were stronger than us."

2015 German MotoGP - Dani Pedrosa - Image courtesy of Honda

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa ran in third position for the first portion of the race, passing Valentino Rossi on lap 17 to move into second, where he eventually finished. "I was under a lot of pressure from Valentino and, although it had been a while since I had last fought with him and he is very difficult to beat, I gave my all and was able to finish ahead of him. I rode much better at the end and it is the first race this season in which I kept up a good pace until the finish. It’s true that here the bike had less of a handicap than at other tracks, due to the type of circuit it is, but at test next week we have to work hard -because the both Jorge and Valentino were much closer today than in other years here."

2015 German MotoGP - Valentino Rossi - Image courtesy of Yamaha

By finishing third, Valentino Rossi extended his points lead over Jorge Lorenzo to 13 at the halfway point in the season. " I tried to stay with Pedrosa for ten laps, because I knew that it was key on gaining some time on Jorge. Today’s third place is crucial because Jorge arrived here with four victories in a row, where he gained 28 points, so it was a very important win in Assen and also to arrive in front of him here, so we extend the lead to 13 points."

2015 German MotoGP - Jorge Lorenzo - Image courtesy of Yamaha

After leading the first four laps of the race, Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo faded to fourth at the finish. "In the end, the only good thing was my good start and that, after a bad race, we only lost three points. When I started losing the rear and I had a lot of problems picking up the bike with good drive and on braking the rear didn’t support the front enough to stop the bike and I had to start braking earlier and earlier."

2015 German MotoGP - Andrea Iannone - Image courtesy of Ducati

Andrea Iannone held off a late-race charge from Bradley Smith to finish in 5th spot on the Ducati Desmosedici GP15. "At the start I tried to stay close to the leaders, taking some risks, but then I realized that in sectors T2 and T3 I was losing a lot and so I tried to impose my own pace and in the end it didn’t go badly."

2015 German MotoGP - Bradley Smith - Image courtesy of Tech3

After qualifying ninth on the grid, Tech3 Yamaha rider Bradley Smith worked his way up to sixth at the finish.

2015 German MotoGP - Pol Espargaro - Image courtesy of Tech3

Pol Espargaro qualified and finished in eighth position on his Tech3 Yamaha YZR-M1.

2015 German MotoGP - Andrea Dovizioso - Image courtesy of Ducati

After qualifying in 11th and starting from row 4 on the grid, Andrea Dovizioso worked his way up to 8th in the race but crashed out on lap 15. " I was pushing hard and lapping quite quickly, but as I was always on the limit I couldn’t be smooth and so I made a mistake. I’m disappointed for the team and it’s a real pity for the championship, but apart from this it also confirms that at the moment we don’t have the same speed as we had at the start of the season."

The Ecstar Suzuki team raced with special livery on the GSX-RR, based on the blue/white scheme from the early '80s and originally debuted by Kevin Schwantz. The team will also use the special livery at Indianapolis.

2015 German MotoGP - Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro - Image courtesy of Suzuki

After a difficult weekend searching for the best setup, Ecstar Suzuki riders Aleix Espargaro (41) and Maverick Vinales (25) battled over the final few laps with Espargaro finishing in 10th and Vinales in 11th. Satoru Terada, project leader: "We struggled to find a proper set-up to make the riders comfortable and this meant that we couldn’t make a weekend as good as the last few ones. Espargaro did not have a good feeling on front, especially in slow corners and Viñales couldn’t find effective rear-grip and acceleration. We thought that this circuit would have been suitable for us and on the contrary this is probably one of the weekends where we struggled most. Of course we know that acceleration is one of our weaknesses and our development team is working to find a solution, the seamless gearbox is probably one of the most effective solutions and I hope we will be able to introduce it pretty soon."

2015 German MotoGP - Nicky Hayden - Image courtesy of Team Aspar

After running as low as 23th on the opening lap, Power Electronics Aspar rider Nicky Hayden fought back to 16th at the finish. "We set a decent pace in the warm-up this morning so we expected a better race. I made a pretty decent start but I wasn't aggressive enough in the first turn and I got pushed wide. I cam back on track second last. I had a good feeling over the first couple of laps and made up a few positions. I got with Barberá and thought we could catch the group ahead of us but as the laps went by I lost grip on the rear, Barberá escaped and I spent the rest of the race on my own."

At the midway point of the 2015 MotoGP season, Marc Marquez rode to a dominating victory at the German Grand Prix while Valentino Rossi extended his points lead. Scroll through the gallery above to see action photos of the top riders at the Sachsenring, with notes about the race and quotes from the riders.