SACHSENRING, Germany — Spain’s Marc Marquez stretched his lead at the top of the MotoGP championship after the Honda rider roared back from a slow start off pole position to win the German Grand Prix Sunday.
Second at the Sachsenring circuit, which was pounded with rain in the lead-up to the race, was Britain’s Cal Crutchlow and third Andrea Dovizioso of Italy.
It was a miserable day for Marquez’s championship rivals with Jorge Lorenzo, the reigning champ, finishing down in a lowly 15th for just a single point and Valentino Rossi eighth.
Marquez, who celebrated wildly after the race, jumps up to 170 points overall, with his fellow Spaniard Lorenzo now lagging in second on 122 points.
Rossi, the Italian legend, is third on 111 points.
Johann Zarco pulled away at the top of the Moto2 when the Frenchman surged to victory, as his nearest rivals crashed out.
The reigning world champion pipped fellow Kalex rider and home hope Jonas Folger to the line at the sodden Sachsenring circuit, with the Spaniard Julian Simon third on the podium, in the ninth race of the season.
Zarco’s thrilling victory — he was just 0.059 seconds ahead of the German — was his fourth race win this season and propelled him to 151 championship points.
Second in the standings is Spain’s Alex Rins, who suffered a heavy crash that ended his race with only three laps to go when riding in third. He walked away from the smash. Rins is second overall on 126 points, with Britain’s Sam Lowes third on 121 points, after he too failed to finish in Germany when he tumbled in the wet.
Honda’s Malaysian teenager Khairul Idham Pawi won the German Moto 3 title.
The 17-year-old claimed his second win of the season at the main expense of Italians Andrea Locatelli and Enea Bastianini.
Pawi’s previous success was also attained in the rain in Argentina.
Pawi is 10th in the Moto3 standings, 105 points behind South African leader Brad Binder, only eighth in Germany.
