Honda rider Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) takes his World Championship lead to Germany this week, to a racetrack at which he has won on his last three visits. He will be joined at the Sachsenring by MotoGP rookie team-mate Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V) who is still very much in the battle for the world title after a storming ride to second at the Dutch TT a fortnight ago. Marquez has also won on his last three rides at the Germany GP venue. Pedrosa and the Sachsenring have got along well together ever since he graduated to the 250 class after winning the 125 World Championship in 2003. Since then the 27-year-old has won six Grands Prix at the track; on his Honda RS250 in 2004 and 2005, on his RC212V in 2007, 2010 and 2011 and last year aboard his RC213V. The sinuous circuit that climbs and falls in countryside near the ancient city of Chemnitz demands inch-perfect accuracy and therefore suits Pedrosa's sublimely neat riding technique. His 2012 win at the track kicked off a stunning run of results that had him win seven of the season's last 11 races.Although Pedrosa leads the points chase, nine points ahead of reigning champ Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and 23 ahead of Marquez, he has had a difficult last three races, never quite getting his machine to extract the maximum from the Bridgestone control tyres. The Spaniard was second behind Lorenzo at Mugello and Catalunya, but only fourth at Assen, where he struggled to find grip as the race wore on. Marquez too has an impressive record at the Sachsenring, which first hosted a Grand Prix (as a street circuit) back in 1961. The 20-year-old won on a 125 in 2010 and on a Moto2 bike in 2011 and 2012. The reigning Moto2 World Champion has made an astonishing entry into the elite class this year, scoring podium finishes at six of the first seven races, including his debut win at April's Grand Prix of the Americas, which made him the youngest premier-class winner in six and a half decades of Grand Prix racing. Only one other rider has scored six podiums from his first seven races in the premier class: American Kenny Roberts, who went on to take the title at his first attempt, in 1978.Dani Pedrosa: "This week we head to Germany and I hope we can get a good feeling and have a good weekend. Sachsenring has typically been a good track for me in the past and it's a circuit where I always enjoy racing. It's a short track where you spend a lot of time on the left, but the fastest corner is to the right, so tyre performance will be key. It's important to keep the momentum and ride my best to keep fighting for race wins." Marc Marquez: "It was a tough and complicated weekend in Assen, but the important thing is that we learned a lot and picked up another podium and some important points. Now we head to Sachsenring, another new circuit for us on the MotoGP machine. We will see how the weather is there, as it can change quite a lot! It will be interesting to see what the circuit is like on this bike because it's one of the smallest circuits on the calendar and I already found it small in Moto2, so I can't imagine how it will be in MotoGP! When we get there, I'll take my time to learn the lines with my team, as we do every week, and try our best for another good result."
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