MotoGP arrived at the midway point of the 2026 world championship campaign for the Grand Prix of Germany around the historic setting of Sachsenring. The short, curling, anticlockwise layout in Saxony was kissed by sunshine for three days of action and the CFMOTO Aspar team shone brightly once more with their Moto3 and Moto2 efforts. Max Quiles challenged for the Moto3 win and finished runner-up for his tenth podium from 11 while Daniel Holgado does the same in Moto2!
In Moto3 Max Quiles had an eventful two days of prep for the 23-lap race. The teenage crashed on Friday and again on Saturday but managed to set the fastest time in the second Free Practice and move through Q1 to set up a run for Pole Position. Marco Morelli increased his speed through the sessions to sit inside the top three by the end of Free Practice. Qualification was hectic as the riders swarmed to find a tow. Morelli was strong and his best effort was just 0.024 of a second from Pole, meaning his first front row slot of his rookie season. Max was not slow. He was less than two tenths of a second from Marco and occupied the first slot of the second row of the grid.
The race itself was tense and unpredictable. A five-rider group going for the podium made sure of close quarters combat in the first half of the distance. Max and Marco were part of the quintet but Quiles had superior speed and broke free with Brian Uriarte in a duel for victory for the last ten laps. Come the crucial final dash, both riders slid into corners and combed the limits. Quiles tried to carry more momentum through the final Turn 13 and was denied a seventh triumph of the season by just 0.063 of a second but was content with his tenth visit from 11 to the rostrum after the closest ever Moto3 finale at the Sachsenring. Marco had to fight with two rivals for the third step of the box and was desperately close. He was pipped by an even smaller time distance: 0.007! Morelli ended the day in 4th.
Maximo now has a 104-point lead in the Moto3 championship; an advantage of four rounds with 11 left this season. Marco is up to 4th in the list while the CFMOTO Aspar crew are P1 in the Teams contest.
Max Quiles: “I didn’t have the same velocity as Brian in the faster corners and I didn’t have the killer instinct today; maybe I was thinking too much of the holiday to come! I’m a bit angry with myself but this is great points for the championship and another podium. We’ll keep working and keep hitting the gas. Thanks to everybody, it was a really fun race.”
Moto2 pushed David Alonso and Daniel Holgado to pace and Alonso was buoyed after his sensational first victory of the season less than two weeks prior in The Netherlands. Both the Columbian and the Spaniard worked on race set-up and were hovering at the top of the classifications on Friday and Saturday morning. Qualifying worked out well for Holgado who reached the top four for the second row of the grid. Alonso was not far away in P8 and the third row. 
Holgado was more eager in the race. 25 laps represented a long distance for the Moto2 field and Dani kept steady and consistent in the group for the podium. As the clock ticked down Holgado moved to the back wheel of leader Ivan Ortola and tried to relegate his countryman through the final two circulations. A last lunge into Turn 13 was denied and the gap between the pair was 0.6 at the flag. 2nd place gave Daniel his fourth trip to the rostrum this year and his first since the Italian Grand Prix.
David lapped only a few seconds behind his teammate but a heavy crash exiting Turn 3 just after mid-race meant a DNF and a ‘0’ in the points column.
In the world championship standings Alonso still has the upper hand and is 3rd, just one point in front of Holgado. Both riders are still in title contention.
Daniel Holgado: “Fantastic race for us and I’m very happy to be back on the podium after what feels like a long time. It was a difficult race because the grip was super-bad. I tried by best today but Ortola was very fast all race. I pushed to my limit in the last part and tried again on the last lap: I was thinking about the victory but…no problem. We will have another chance after the summer break and now I want to work hard these weeks to be prepared for the second half of the season.”
MotoGP’s next adventure will involve more speed and history. Silverstone is one of the longest and most diverse tracks on the schedule. It first hosted F1 in the 1950s and has been a draw for MotoGP since the late 1970s. First, the championship will enjoy a three-week break and then all roads led to the UK.