Aleix Espargaro will attempt to ride at the German Grand Prix this weekend, despite breaking a metacarpal in his right hand in the Dutch MotoGP Sprint only last Saturday.
Espargaro missed the MotoGP Dutch TT as a result of his Sprint crash and resultant injury, but he will try to ride at what he labelled "a very special track, where you turn counterclockwise."
Indeed, the Sachsenring's layout is deeply anti-clockwise, offering only three right-hand turns compared to 10 lefts, including seven in succession from turn four to turn 10.
In the past, this has played to the strengths of Marc Marquez, who has historically been especially strong in left-hand corners. This weekend, it will be Espargaro who will be hoping the left-handed layout can offer some relief to his injured right (throttle and front brake) hand.
"I'm still not in good shape with my hand," Espargaro said. "It's a really complicated injury because it involves my hand on the gas. I don't have mobility and it hurts a lot, however, I want to try."
Such is the recency of Espargaro's injury, he will minimise the length of his weekend by arriving late to the circuit in order to do as much therapy as possible this week with a view to being ready to ride in FP1 on Friday morning.
"I'll do therapy until Thursday," he said, "and then I'll arrive at the Sachsenring at the last moment, to try to participate in FP1."
Maverick Vinales' weekend in the Netherlands went much smoother than Espargaro's, finishing on the podium in the Sprint before taking fifth in the main race on Sunday. Vinales crossed the line fifth, but was demoted to sixth for touching the green on the inside of the final chicane, and then promoted back to fifth when Marc Marquez was handed a 16-second penalty for breaching tyre pressure rules.
Vinales has never won at the Sachsenring in any class, and has only scored two MotoGP podiums there: in 2018 he finished third behind Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, and in 2019 he finished second behind Marquez.
As a result of this record, and perhaps due to the uniquity of its layout, Vinales declared that Sachsenring "is not one of my favourite tracks."
Nonetheless, ahead of the 2024 German GP, he said he is "confident that we can do a great job. I got several podiums and pole positions in Germany. I continue with the spirit of Assen, I'm motivated and determined to do a good job before the summer break."
