He took his only MotoGP podium as a rookie at the German Grand Prix yet Valentino Rossi ‘studied everything’ from him

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Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP German Grand Prix four times across 21 visits to the Sachsenring, while registering a further six podium finishes between 2000 and 2021.

The Italian even won the German GP once at the Nurburgring after taking glory in the 125cc class during the world championship’s final time at the circuit in 1997. His first victory at the Sachsenring later followed in 1999 when Rossi sealed 250cc honours at the track in Saxony.

It took Rossi until the 2002 MotoGP season, as the championship rebranded from the 500cc era, to get his maiden premier class win at the German GP. Yet the Urbino native built on his glory for Honda in 2002 by picking up further victories in 2005, 2006 and 2009 for Yamaha.

Rossi did not have to wait long to get his first premier class podium finish at the German GP, having reached the rostrum with P2 for Nastro Azzurro as a rookie in 2000. He even took to the Sachsenring podium with P2 in 2003, P2 in 2008, P3 in 2013, P3 in 2015 and P2 in 2018.

Valentino Rossi credited Jonas Folger for his final podium at the German GP in 2018

Yet despite his success at the Sachsenring, Rossi credited Jonas Folger for his final podium in the 2018 German GP with P2 for Yamaha. The six-time premier class champion ended the race 2.196s from Marc Marquez, as the Honda star won for a sixth-straight year in Germany.

Rossi started from P6 on the grid in 2018 during a difficult weekend for the Italian, who was only 17th in the timesheets at the end of Friday’s running. Yet Rossi drew on ‘everything’ he could from how Folger got what would be his only MotoGP podium in the 2017 German GP.

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Rossi explained after his P2 finish in the 2018 German GP, via quotes by Crash: “It was very important to look at Folger’s race because firstly, mentally I arrived here last year and I was not comfortable with the bike, so I was already not strong enough.

“But Folger last year didn’t know it was a difficult track for the Yamaha, and he did a fantastic race at the level of Marc, as he stayed there in the fight.

“So, I studied everything of Folger, all the race, all the lines and which way he raced the bike, which way he set-up the bike. Everything. I think it was a good help for me from Folger last year, so we have to give him the trophy!”

Jonas Folger scored his only MotoGP podium in the 2017 German Grand Prix before illness derailed his career

Folger scored what would be the only podium finish of his MotoGP career on home soil with P2 in the 2017 German GP, as the native of Muhldorf finished second to Marquez by 3.310s. He reached the rostrum with Yamaha’s then-satellite team Tech3, as Rossi only managed P5.

Rossi even finished the 2017 German GP 14.980s behind Marquez after starting from ninth on the grid, while Folger started from P5. The factory Yamaha rider was a distant spectator as Folger fought Marquez for the victory in what was the ninth round of his MotoGP career.

Tech3 gave Folger his premier class debut in the 2017 MotoGP season, but he would only do 14 rounds before suffering from serious health problems. Folger was initially diagnosed with a case of mononucleosis, but specialists in Germany diagnosed him with Gilbert’s syndrome.

Gilbert’s syndrome is a liver condition which prevents the organ from correctly processing bilirubin. Folger had been affected by the condition since 2011, but it was only detected in the later stages of 2017 and initially forced the German to withdraw from the 2018 season.

Folger eventually made a return to racing in the Moto2 class with a five-round stint from the 2019 Catalan Grand Prix until the Austrian Grand Prix. But he did not return to MotoGP until 2023, when GASGAS Tech3 chose Folger to step in for the injured Pol Espargaro in six races.

His time with Tech3 as a full-time rider in 2017, which yielded the German GP podium that Rossi used as a source of inspiration in 2018, plus his cameo run in 2023 produced a career total of 19 starts in MotoGP. The 2017 German GP also proved to be Folger’s only podium.