Marc Marquez topped every practice session and the Sunday morning warm-up at the Sachsenring, then settled in behind Jorge Lorenzo at the beginning of the race. But on lap 5, with his tires nicely at operating temperature on a 109-degree Fahrenheit track, Marquez passed Lorenzo. Marquez’s teammate, Dani Pedrosa, also was able to pass Lorenzo, but on lap 17. Pedrosa finished 2nd, 2.2 seconds behind the leader. Series leader Valentino Rossi, in 3rd, was a further 3.4 seconds back, with Lorenzo finishing another 4.3 seconds down. Our first question has to be this: Is Marquez now back to full strength? Can we expect a resumption of one dominant win after another? Trackside observers felt that even with the “fixes” Honda has implemented (which includes Marquez’s switch back to a 2014 chassis), he is still unable to brake and enter corners in his former manner. That was to brake very hard with the rear tire in the air, then somehow keep the bike stable as he began to enter the turn, letting the rear swing out so that the tire touched down with the bike already in a sliding attitude. With the 2015 engine and electronics, the stability necessary for this has been compromised. The changes implemented between seasons are set in stone by the in-season development freeze rule, making impossible any internal engine changes (for example, to cam timing). But as with Apollo 13, there can be other ways to accomplish the same result. Said Marquez: “I felt good on the bike again thanks to the changes we made (switching to the 2014 chassis, etc.). 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.” 
There has been progress. “I’m happy because from the beginning I was fast and that is important,” said Marquez. It was a long time ago that I felt like this on the Friday. In Assen [the previous event] I had that feeling with the bike, but only on day two and three. Today [Friday], from the beginning, I have felt good and this is important. “I’m able to stop the bike better, continued Marquez. “And I’m able to be more constant. The bike is less critical on the front. If I do some mistakes I can keep the line.” CWM LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow summed it up this way: “Marc is riding a lot better, it’s not just he’s changed the chassis.” Marquez is not mindlessly trying to ride a changed motorcycle as he rode it before the changes. He is trying A, trying B, in search of ways to compensate in some degree for what is lost. Some added risk is involved. “I’m a rider that even if I don’t feel the bike as I want, I’m able to be fast,” explained Marquez. “I’m able to be fast, but with a lot of risk. This is what happened in the other races. I was able to be fast, but I didn’t feel the bike and I take a lot of risk.” Flying on instruments! 
Yamaha’s Lorenzo commented: “We always struggle to be competitive at this track. This isn’t the easiest circuit for Yamaha and it’s also difficult with my riding style.” The Yamaha is set up for Lorenzo’s gradual transitions, and is upset by cramming all the action into a smaller space, as happens in slow corners. The Honda sacrifices mid-corner speed in order to gain exit speed. There is room for gradual transitions in bigger corners, but not in slower ones. Sachsenring, like COTA, offers Honda an advantage, while Assen, where Rossi has won so often, is the reverse. Rely on Cal Crutchlow for revelations! This man blurts out wonderful things that make us think. “Marquez’s s chassis last year was a lot different to all the other riders anyway. His chassis is in a different direction to us anyway, because his chassis was a lot stiffer than the other guys’.” What does this imply? Possibly that Marquez values rapid control response over the ultimate in corner grip. How can he sacrifice any corner grip? This makes me think of the 1970s’ star, Yvon DuHamel, who had a lot of what I will call “chaos tolerance,” the ability to ignore many of the alarm signals that would tell other riders “brace for impact.” We see Marquez go rattling across interrupted curbing, confident that he will regain grip immediately. Does he, as Yvon apparently did, extract the essential signals and simply monitor and ignore the others? The Ducatis? Andrea Iannone was 5th, start-to-finish, while Andrea Dovizioso crashed out on lap 15. Sachsenring’s left-handers quickly fatigue the left side of the rear tire. Ducati has come a long way from 2014 to 2015, but getting adequate tire life with the great power of their engine isn’t an overnight task. 
I was surprised at Catalunya by the ability of the Suzukis to hang in there over many laps, but this time Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales came home 10th and 11th. There are several riders—each of whom who has sporadically given a good performance—who we expect to be more consistent and finish higher up. This includes Cal Crutchlow, the Espargaro brothers, Scott Redding, and Bradley Smith. Smith finished an excellent 6th, Crutchlow was 7th, and Espargaro crossed the line 8th. Pol Espargaro, on the Tech 3 Yamaha, said: “As soon as we started the GP, I realized that something wasn’t quite right. I was lacking grip on the rear and it was impossible to turn into the corners. “ He and so many others. What about Rossi and his championship lead (now grown to 13 points ahead of Lorenzo in 2nd and 64 points ahead of Marquez, in 4th)? The Honda men, Marquez and Pedrosa, were the only ones to choose the hard front tire, while all but four of the others chose the asymmetric front slick. From the Bridgestone race report: “The rise in track temperature (to 110F) today resulted in some late changes on the grid, in terms of front tire choice.” Rossi made strategic use of drafting in his attempt to catch Pedrosa (he didn’t succeed), saying that it allowed him to get away from Lorenzo. “His slipstream helped me a lot.” Like Eddie Lawson 30 years before, Rossi is always thinking of the championship, not being diverted by trying to win every corner. In many cases, riders experienced rapid fatigue of rear tires, caused by the concentrated turning of 10 left-handers. The men at the top are not there because they dashingly take risks. If they did, it would show in numerous crashes. They are there because they have the experience to manage their assets on the fly, and because they have top crews who make very few mistakes. 
Results: MotoGP Germany 2015
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
| 1 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | SPA | 25 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 41'01.087 |
| 2 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | SPA | 20 | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +2.226 |
| 3 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | ITA | 16 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +5.608 |
| 4 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | SPA | 13 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +9.928 |
| 5 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | ITA | 11 | Ducati Team | Ducati | +20.785 |
| 6 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | GBR | 10 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | +23.215 |
| 7 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | GBR | 9 | CWM LCR Honda | Honda | +29.881 |
| 8 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | SPA | 8 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | +34.953 |
| 9 | PETRUCCI Danilo | 9 | ITA | 7 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +35.875 |
| 10 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 6 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | +37.253 |
| 11 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | SPA | 5 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | +37.274 |
| 12 | HERNANDEZ Yonny | 68 | COL | 4 | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +42.081 |
| 13 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | SPA | 3 | Avintia Racing | Ducati | +48.611 |
| 14 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 2 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +50.687 |
| 15 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 1 | CWM LCR Honda | Honda | +53.769 |
| 16 | HAYDEN Nicky | 69 | USA | 0 | Aspar MotoGP Team | Honda | +58.921 |
| 17 | LAVERTY Eugene | 50 | IRE | 0 | Aspar MotoGP Team | Honda | +1'02.738 |
| 18 | DE ANGELIS Alex | 15 | RSM | 0 | Athina Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | +1'03.122 |
| 19 | BAZ Loris | 76 | FRA | 0 | Athina Forward Racing | Forward Yamaha | +1'11.162 |
| 20 | LAVERTY Michael | 70 |
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