The MotoGP™ World Championship takes to the Sachsenring in Germany for the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland this weekend and after the opening day of action, there’s plenty to delve into ahead of the weekend’s remaining action. Leading the way on the return to the Sachsenring, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was the rider to beat ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) third, with everyone improving their times in comparison to the morning.

Who will steal the headlines on the first day of the German Grand Prix?

Near the top of the order for almost the entirety of the session, Miguel Oliveira continued his stunning form after winning in Barcelona, topping the timesheets in Germany by 0.220s over Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman, sporting a new throttle housing on his factory Yamaha, was able to improve in the closing stages to depose his teammate Maverick Viñales from the top two. Both of the factory Yamahas put in an impressive time attack at the end and will look to convert that pace into positive Saturday grid slots.

BEST OF THE REST: completing the top ten…

It was fine Friday for Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR), with the returning Spaniard a solid fourth and top Suzuki, just over half a tenth from Viñales and the top three. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) suffered another Turn 3 crash, but he once again bounced back to place the Honda inside the top five, one place higher than fellow Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU), with Honda looking strong at the Sachsenring, with two Hondas inside the top six overall.

Friday once again proved positive for Aprilia, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Gresini Team) looking strong and enjoying sporadic periods further up the order. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) was eighth after the opening day and top Ducati, ahead of Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team); the Australian proved consistently faster than anyone else in the opening two sectors but couldn’t maintain the pace to complete the overall best lap time. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) completed the top ten and made it three Yamahas inside the top ten, just 0.538s from top spot.

AIMING TO CONQUER: who is currently not into Q2?

Danilo Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) was eleventh as he used the new KTM chassis for the first time, so he has a solid base to move on, whilst Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) is not accurately represented of his real pace, as he is 12th but by virtue of not pushing on for a time attack at the end of the session, opting use the hard front-medium rear combination for the majority of the session and leading the way for much of that time.

Reigning World Champion Joan Mir (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) was only 16th on combined times and will hope he can take strides forward, whilst 2021 rookie Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Avintia) was initially inside the top three before dropping to 18th overall, crashing twice – Turn 13 firstly and then a big highside at Turn 7. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was only 20th, having crashed at Turn 1 before remounting.

Top 10 on combined times after Friday:

1. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 1:20.690
2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.220
3. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.333
4. Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) + 0.387
5. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.418
6. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) + 0.441
7. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 0.453
8. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.491
9. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.502
10. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.538