1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati): “It wasn’t easy. I tried everything at the start to stay in front, but Jorge and Frankie overtook me. I felt that they were pushing too hard and thought that I could push more in the final laps. I was able to slowly close the gap again. The first person to give up would have lost. I kept the pressure up and saw that he made a few mistakes in the final laps. After his crash, I slowed down because it wasn’t easy, the front closed several times. Four wins in a row are fantastic, plus my first win at the Sachsenring. Thanks to everyone!”
2. Marc Marquez (Gresini): “Thank you Sachsenring! It was an incredible weekend because we had a lot of problems from FP1 onwards. But we never gave up. Yesterday we managed a consistent race where we were able to work on the race pace for the first time. Today we adjusted the electronics a bit. That made me feel a bit better and I came back step by step. After the contact with Morbidelli I went full throttle. I would also give up the win to be on the podium with my brother because it is an incredible feeling. Pecco drove a strong race and put Martin under a lot of pressure. Many thanks to my team!”
3. Alex Marquez (Gresini): “An incredible Sunday, I gave it my all. I knew my rhythm wasn’t good. Pecco and Martin had a bit more up their sleeves than I did. I would have thought Oliveira was a bit stronger, but he seems to have had problems. I drove my best race possible. When Jorge’s crash put me on the podium, I really wanted to finish it. I’m very happy for my team because they worked hard in the past few weeks when we were having problems. Congratulations also to Marc for an incredible comeback and Pecco for a great race.”
4. Enea Bastianini (Ducati): “I had a good start but then I accidentally touched the device and lowered the bike; I then took the first corners with the rear locked, which cost me some time. I tried to fight my way back to the front and I managed to do so. Then when I got close to Marc (Márquez) a good fight started. Today he was better than me because he pulled away and quickly overtook Franco (Morbidelli). I, on the other hand, took a little longer to do the same and that made me lose the chance to fight for the podium. Despite that, it was another great race.”
5. Franco Morbidelli (Pramac): “I had a great day, especially in the first half of the race, and then I lost a bit of performance. I was probably a bit aggressive with the tyres and couldn’t last until the end, but I had a lot of fun with some overtaking at the beginning and the feeling that I can do it. This is really positive for us as a team and also for me as a driver. I’m really happy and now we can relax and arrive at Silverstone with a good dose of confidence from the last few races where the performance was very good.”
6. Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse): “It was a great weekend, with very competitive lap times and a very competitive placing in both the sprint race and qualifying. Today was the first real challenge with the long race. We just didn’t have enough against the Ducatis today. They had a different pace, a different grip and a different level, so… It’s a pity I couldn’t challenge more. During the weekend we were able to ride quite well, smooth, handle the tires very well, but today I just didn’t have enough.”
7. Pedro Acosta (GasGas): That was tough! On the one hand we saved the race with this result, but on the other hand we learned and understood a lot of things that we can pass on to the guys at the factory. We’re going to have an important few weeks. Let’s see what we can do and how we can improve.”
8. Marco Bezzecchi (VR46): “A pretty positive Sunday after a complicated start. Friday was tough while yesterday we sorted out the weekend. I have more confidence in riding and I’m happy with the top 10. It’s not exactly what I would have liked but we’ve progressed anyway and we have to be happy. The sensations are better, overall positive and we have to keep working without giving up. Here we decided not to make too many changes to the bike and maybe that’s the right direction for the second part of the championship.”
9. Brad Binder (KTM): “We made some big changes for today’s race and everything was a bit easier to handle. It was better. The bike stopped a bit better but we clearly need to find more because the guys in front of us were in a class of their own. We got some valuable information to find a bit more speed and keep the pace throughout the race. On the last lap I lost the front in Turn 11 and lost two positions. That wasn’t ideal. I know what I’m capable of and where we can be. We will keep fighting as hard as we can in every session.”
10. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse): “We had to analyse yesterday’s events well to understand the problems in the sprint because it was important for me too to have a report before I start the race today. It was quite difficult to manage the sprint yesterday so I wanted to know what to expect from the race today. The team did a good job and this morning we had some good information from yesterday. I understood the problem I had in the sprint so I was very focused on the performance in the race because I thought we could do well. But in the race itself, although I got the maximum out of it, that was all I could do, especially in the second part of the race. In the first 15 laps I was fighting with the leading group and Miguel, but from lap 15 to the end I was struggling with the tyre. We tried to conserve it during the race in the way I know how but it was difficult and so the end of the race was tough. I did my best and we are in the top 10 – the weekend was OK overall.”
11. Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha): “It was a tough GP but today went much better than expected. With the new tyres we are missing a lot at the beginning but I finished with more or less the same gap to the winner as in yesterday’s sprint and that is pretty good. We know where we can improve. I think the second part of the season will be better and I believe we will improve. We have made progress since the beginning of the year. We are working hard and you can’t see it in the results yet but we are on the right track and hopefully you can see the steps we have made soon.”
12. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia): “I braked at turn 8 and risked a highside, so I went wide and went off the track. We looked at the data and found no anomalies, I just lost grip at the rear. It’s a real shame because I had excellent race pace. We have to try to set up the weekend better because the bike changes a lot when you ride alone or in a group.”
13. Jack Miller (KTM): “Not the most ideal day. We managed to solve the problems at the front that I had yesterday, but we had problems with the rear tire from the beginning and couldn’t get it to turn in a few corners. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get it to work properly in the first sector. The others just had a bit more speed and a bit more lean angle. We got everything we could out of it. We will keep working. Saturday was a good day, today was more mediocre. I’m glad I got the feeling for the front of the bike back. We’re keeping working and we still have 11 races to go.”
14. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda): Statement follows
15. Luca Marini (Honda): “I’m overall happy with what we’ve achieved in the first half of the year, that’s the most important thing. Of course, I didn’t expect us to struggle so much, but we’re starting to turn things around now. Our efforts from the first races are starting to pay off, and now we have to see what comes after the summer break. The gap to first place today is good, the track plays a role, but we’re making progress. Everyone at Honda is working together in the same direction, let’s keep that up after the short break.”
16. Augusto Fernandez (GasGas): “It was a hard and long race because I struggled a lot with the grip on the rear, but the positive thing is that we have a better feeling and a better level again. We were close to the other GASGAS and KTMs in terms of lap times and it’s a shame about the penalty because it would have given us a few points. Let’s see if we can continue like we have been doing so far in Silverstone and be more competitive in the second half of the year.”
17. Johann Zarco (LCR Honda): Statement follows
18. Joan Mir (Honda): “We need to use this weekend to understand what happened and how we can avoid it in the future. I was again unable to reach my full potential and struggled more than the other Honda riders. It was a long, hard race from which there is a lot to learn. The team and I have already looked at the data and we have some ideas about what we can change in the future. We don’t stop working, we don’t stop trying and we want to come back stronger in Silverstone.”
19. Remy Gardner (Yamaha): “We made a setting change to improve my feeling of the bike. In the Warm Up I felt a difference and I thought we could have a pretty good race. The pace up to lap 10 was really good. I was battling with Zarco and Bradl and trying to chase Mir and I was ahead of Bradl for 8-9 laps which was good. I didn’t know how to handle the rear tire degradation in the last 10 laps but it’s all a matter of experience. However, if you compare my pace with the medium rear tire between yesterday’s sprint and today’s race, today’s pace is much better. I hope I was able to give some good feedback and give a different point of view and hopefully Yamaha can take something positive from this.”
20. Stefan Bradl(Honda): “It’s always a pleasure to race at the Sachsenring and I have to thank the fans for their support this weekend. I felt that on the track and whenever I was in the paddock or at events. Now we will take what we have learned here and continue working with the test team to build for the future. These weekends are not only useful for us but also to understand things about the other Hondas and also the other bikes.”
DNF. Jorge Martin (Pramac): “It’s frustrating to be in the lead for 27 of 30 laps and crash at the end. However, it’s very important to analyse the incident thoroughly because it’s the second time I’ve crashed while leading. Now that we have more data, it will be easier to understand how we can improve and become an even stronger rider.”
DNF. Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46): Too bad, the first retirement for me in the 2024 Sunday race. I’m sorry, my shoulder was better today, we did a great job with the physiotherapist. The start wasn’t perfect but I didn’t lose contact with the group and stayed there. Then suddenly I lost grip at the rear: we’re checking the data, we don’t yet know exactly what happened. I lost pressure, I also got an alarm on the dashboard and it was really dangerous to continue. Externally the tire seems fine but we can’t rule out that it has something to do with the rim. I’m sorry that the first part of the season ended this way but the balance so far is definitely positive.