Marc Marquez continued his sensational record at the Sachsenring with a dominant pole-to-flag victory in Sunday's German Grand Prix.
The Spaniard racked up a 10th consecutive victory at the circuit – seven of those now coming in MotoGP – as he stretched his lead at the top of the world championship standings.
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Marquez, who a day earlier had also made it 10 pole positions in a row, was never troubled by the chasing pack and set a lap record en route to maximum points.
It means the Repsol Honda rider, who celebrated with the crowd at the end of the race, now has a 58-point lead over Andrea Dovizioso at the top of the riders' standings as he continues a relentless march towards a sixth MotoGP world title.
Dovizioso endured a nightmare qualifying session and started 13th on the grid, but the Ducati man worked his way through the pack to record a fifth-place finish.
The Italian was involved in a fierce battle for fourth with Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller but was crucially undercut by the former at Turn 1 on the final lap and was unable to strike back.
Alex Rins suffered disappointment after crashing out at Turn 11 with 11 laps to go having made a couple of neat passes to work his way up to second – the Spaniard sliding into the gravel.
Maverick Vinales – a winner last time out at Assen – consequently claimed second after holding off the close attentions of Cal Crutchlow, who completed the podium but will rue going wide at Turn 9 on the penultimate lap.
Exciting rookie Fabio Quartararo would have had designs on a top-three finish after qualifying second, but the Frenchman locked up at Turn 3 as early as the second lap and spun out for a premature end to his afternoon.
10 years, 10 poles, 10 victories!
— MotoGP™ ?? (@MotoGP) July 7, 2019
What a run for @marcmarquez93 at the Sachsenring! #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/xeJCuMZXcz
TOP 10
1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda)
2. Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha) +4.587secs
3. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) +7.741s
4. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) +16.577s
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) +16.669s
6. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) +16.836s
7. Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) +17.156s
8. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha) +19.110s
9. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) +20.634s
10. Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda) +22.708s
TITLE STANDINGS
Riders
1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 185
2. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 127 (-58)
3. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) 121 (-64)
4. Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) 101 (-84)
5. Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha) 85 (-100)
Teams
1. Ducati 248
2. Repsol Honda 210 (-38)
3. Monster Energy Yamaha 165 (-83)
4. Suzuki Ecstar 140 (-108)
5. Petronas Yamaha 119 (-129)