Home hero Stefan Bradl finished on the edge of the points after gritting his teeth through a physically demanding German GP. Crossing the line in 16th, Bradl completed the race and gained more data for Honda HRC as they continue to work on improving the Honda RC213V.
Unfortunately, Pol Espargaro’s injuries from his falls in Free Practice 1 proved too much in combination with the heat and the length of the race, forcing his retirement. An impressive launch off the line had the #44 battling for the top ten but he was forced to watch on as he slowly dropped through the field as the pain increased.
The Repsol Honda Team now head directly to Assen for the eleventh race of the season before the mid-year Summer Break.
Stefan Bradl
“Today is a sad day, I had a big issue with riding the bike in this heat. After following people for the first few corners, I couldn’t brake because my right hand, the lever, became so hot and I couldn’t control the bike. After a couple of laps, I had to drop back to get some fresh air for the bike and for my body. I just tried to finish the race, it was physically more than on the limit and I also have a burn on my right foot because it was so hot. It’s not acceptable to have this situation, we need to improve it. Luckily in Assen we have a chance to fix this problem.”
Pol Espargaro
“It was a tough weekend already and then today was another hard day. The ribs just need time to recover but putting more stress on them each day doesn’t help. I tried to do what I could in the race, but the pain got worse and worse and with the heat, I was struggling to breathe. We also had a lot of heat on my right foot which added to the pain. I had to retire; the pain was too extreme. Now I will go home and recover there, the rib injury is similar to what I had in Valencia last year so I know how to deal with them a bit. Three days is not a lot before Assen, but it is what it is.”