MotoGP: Slip n’ Slide Qualifying in Germany

Weather at the Sachsenring for MotoGP’s qualifying was rainy to put it mildly. As such, the water soaked track feasted upon the unsuspecting riders as they left pit-lane wearing full sets of rains. In total, six riders touched the asphalt with more than a knee puck or elbow, with Turn 6 responsible for the majority of that action.

MotoGP this season has been plauged with changing conidtions on race weekends, and Germany will be no different. With Saturday’s rain, comes Sunday’s sunshine (or at least more sunshine than Saturday’s). This will likely cause a bobble in the qualifying order, which has already seen some surprise this weekend. Continue reading to find out all about it.

Toni Elias, Alex de Angelis, Niccolo Canepa, Marco Melandri, Randy de Puniet and Nicky Hayden all found there way to the German Slip n’ Slide while qualifying. Rainy weather always makes for interesting events, but Nicky Hayden’s highside takes the cake. After being violently thrown from his bike, Hayden found a softer landing resided on top of fellow Ducati rider Niccolo Canepa’s back. The American practically landed on-top of the Pramac Ducati rider, which caused them both to tumble in the water. Hayden seemingly was no worse for the fall, but Canepa had to be taken away from the track on a stretcher. Canepa has so far found his way to the tarmac 3 times this week, but has always remained uninjured. Despite this crash not being his fault, he still harbored no anger at Hayden:

“I didn’t understand what happened until I saw the replay while I was in the mobile clinic. When I was on the ground after the accident I saw and heard Hayden saying to me “Sorry, sorry, sorry”, but I didn’t understand why. He doesn’t have to worry because this sort of thing can happen and the most important thing is that both of us are ok and ready to race tomorrow.”

Despite the rain, the usual suspects are on the front-row of the grid, with Fiat-Yamaha taking another 1-2 qualifying. We’ll see Rossi from first, Lorenzo from second, and Stoner from third all try and grab valuable points in Championship standings tomorrow. Surprsingly, Nicky Hayden could be in that hunt as well, as he starts 4th on the grid. This move has lead some to rumor that Casey Stoner finally told the American GP Champion how to properly ride the Ducati. We tend to the theory that Nicky just put his head down during qualifying, and gott’r done.

Qualifying Results from MotoGP at the German GP at the Sachsenring: