A year ago, it was the Sachsenring’s tricky first corner that caused mayhem during the German Grand Prix, when the right-hander conspired with the wind to catch out multiple riders on raceday.
But if Friday’s evidence is anything to go by, the trap waiting to catch competitors this year has moved a little further along the unique Sachsenring circuit – and it lies directly on the racing line.
A new bump has reared its head at the second apex of the long, slow Omega corner – and even the experienced Marc Marquez fell prey to it during the opening day of practice.
A total of three falls during the Moto3 and Moto2 sessions that kicked off Friday was already a hint that something was amiss at the right-hander. But that wasn’t enough to save Marquez from an almost comically low-speed fall just a couple of laps into his day’s work.
“It was my mistake to not analyse the Moto2 crashes properly,” admitted Marquez at the end of the day.
“It was a very big bump; even the asphalt was going up a bit. You need to be very careful there. Because if you take that bump with some banking, you crash. So, you cannot use the correct line.”
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: Ronny Hartmann / AFP via Getty Images
Later in the session, VR46 rider Franco Morbidelli joined Marquez as an Omega victim, looking understandably perplexed when his Ducati spat him off without warning. Marquez’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia also had a moment at the corner, although he managed to stay on board.
While the MotoGP riders kept out of trouble at Omega during afternoon running – and both Marquez and Morbidelli made it through to Saturday’s Q2 – three further accidents were registered at the corner in the lower classes.
LCR Honda rider Diogo Moreira revealed that the bump was not new, but that it had got worse over the past 12 months.
“It’s strange, because last year, I remember this bump was not so high,” said the Brazilian. “On the first lap this morning, I saw that the bump is super high. I don’t know why it’s there.
“But anyway, it’s just on the perfect line, so we need to be either more on the outside or more to the inside.”
While the riders are now aware of the problem area and will adapt their lines for the rest of the weekend, the Omega bump does add an extra quirk to a track that has never been short of idiosyncracies.
The corner in question is one of only three right-handers on the entire circuit – all of which must be approached with caution given that the right sides of the tyres tend to lose heat around the odd layout.
Along with the aforementioned Turn 1, the other right-hander is the fast Ralf Waldmann Kurve, which caught out the troubled Maverick Vinales during Free Practice 1 this morning.
Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont
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