For the first time in 40 years in the premier class, Honda finished a race without scoring a point. Only Stefan Bradl finished the race, but in 16th - and he blamed the "unacceptable" heat on the RC213V
Although it has a fine record at Sachsenring, the 2022 German GP did not bring good results for Honda. On the contrary, it brought, in fact, the worst result in many years for the Japanese brand. This is because, with Marc Márquez absent, it was left to Pol Espargaró, Álex Marquéz, Takaaki Nakagami and the reserve Stefan Bradl to score points in the Constructors' World Championship. However, the first three dropped out and Bradl finished only 16th.
With this, for the first time in MotoGP history, Honda finishes a race without points. And the only time this has happened in the premier class - that is, taking the 500cc class into account - was at the 1982 Nogaro GP, when the main factory teams (Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki) boycotted a large part of the event because of the dangerous track conditions.
The end result for Honda is somewhat unusual, especially, for its track record at the German circuit. Since 1998, it has been the most successful team in Germany: it has 17 wins. Marquez, who is recovering from a fourth surgery on his right arm, has won the last eight races, from 2013 to 2021.
Only luck was not on the side of the Repsol Honda and LCR riders. Pol Espargaró crashed during practice and, with pain during the race, decided to abandon. Takaaki Nakagami had another hard fall and also left the race. Finally, Álex Márquez had problems with a device on the rear of his bike and was forced to recall his bike.
"The rear exit device was stuck from the first lap. In the first corner, it stayed down, so the bike was acting like a helicopter. It was hard to understand, it hurt my foot in the turns. I tried to correct it manually, I've done it other times, but I couldn't", explained Alex.
Bradl ended up complaining about a very serious problem: the extreme heat of the RC213V, which even burned his body. "I had a big problem riding the bike in these hot conditions, because after following the riders ahead of me in the first few turns, I couldn't brake because my right hand got too hot and I couldn't control the bike anymore," he revealed.
"After a few laps, I had to give up to breathe some fresh air for my bike and my body. And then I was just trying to finish the race. I don't know how I finished the race because physically I was more than at the limit. I burned my right leg because it was so hot. The heat from the engine or something like that is not acceptable," he concluded.