MotoGP: Sachsenring Facts and Figures

The Sachsenring is the shortest circuit of all the championship rounds, with a length of 2.28 miles.

The first time Sachsenring hosted a round of the World Championship was in 1961 and was on the calendar every year until 1972. At that time it was a closed road circuit, of which today only one short section of track from the old road circuit remains. In 1998 it returned to a regular circuit on the calendar, replacing such iconic tracks as Nurburgring and Hockenheim.

Riders often compare the German circuit to a kart track largely due to the number of slow linking corners.

Corner #11 is one of the most problematic in the entire championship, where the most crashes occur. This is because it is the fastest one on the entire track, negotiated in fifth gear and at speeds of up to 120 mph, and at the beginning of a steep elevation change which descends 69 feet in height (equivalent to 7 floors) in only 820 feet. In addition, it is a right hander which is reached after negotiating a total of 7 left-handers for a duration of 31 seconds, causing the tire to cool on the right side. This corner will certainly be a litmus test for Michelin.

Marc Márquez has accumulated a total of 6 consecutive victories at Sachsenring (2010 in 125cc, 2011 and 2012in Moto2, and 2013, 2014 and 2015 in MotoGP). It is the only track where he has achieved such a feat, and of course, the circuit where he has the most victories.

Dani Pedrosa has also won a total of 6 times in Sachsenring (2004 and 2005 in 250cc, and 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012 in MotoGP). It is just behind his number of wins in Valencia, his most successful track.

In 2008, Pedrosa crashed at the end of the straight when leading the race with an advantage of 7.454 seconds over Casey Stoner after just 7 laps. Pedrosa injured his hand and lost the championship lead he had at the time. He has never led the championship since.

Jorge Lorenzo has never won a race at Sachsenring. It is the only track where he has raced 13 times and has never managed a victory. In 2013, he didn't participate because a crash in practice broke the plate that was in his collarbone that had been placed two weeks earlier.

Honda has won the last six races at Sachsenring. Yamaha's last victory here was won by Valentino Rossi in 2009.

0.307 seconds separated race leader Rossi from Pedrosa in fourth place in the MotoGP race of 2006, the beginning of a run of the four tightest races in the premier class history.

In 2002, Sachsenring could have produced the only win by a 500cc two-stroke bike in the MotoGP category. Alex Barros and Olivier Jacque (both on two-stroke machines) were leading the race until the Brazilian missed a braking point and took both himself and the Frenchman out of the race.

In 2005, Lorenzo went down in the 250cc race when he tried an impossible overtaking move on Pedrosa and ran into him. Lorenzo was forced off the track and retired while Pedrosa's exhaust was bent and hanging. Pedrosa recovered from the incident and won the race.

Last year in Moto2, Xavier Siméon had the first and only victory of his career. A year earlier, in 2014, it was Dominique Aegerter who achieved his first and only victory, but still another year earlier, in 2013 it was Jordi Torres who likewise reached the only win of his career at Sachsenring.