– Marc Marquez secured pole position at the German Grand Prix on the Sachsenring with a new lap record. Ducati occupied the entire front row with Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
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Francesco Bagnaia had to compete in Q1 for the fourth time after trying four setups on his Ducati on Friday, but none solved the rear wheel grip problems. For Saturday, the engineers prepared a fifth setup.
After the first attempts in Q1, Bagnaia led the timing with 1:19.954 minutes just ahead of Honda rider Joan Mir. At that point, only the two had broken the 1:20 minute mark.
After switching to a new soft rear tire, Bagnaia improved his time by two tenths to 1:19.753 minutes. Mir did not improve, but Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) stepped up and moved into second place.
Then Luca Marini (Honda) was on a good lap, but he lost crucial time in the final corner. Thus, Bagnaia and Quartararo advanced to Q2. Mir and Marini remained in third and fourth places (see Q1 results).
For Q2, some riders additionally chose the soft front tire, including Di Giannantonio and Marc Marquez. After the first flying lap, the Italian was 0.055 seconds faster and took the lead.
Another serious crash for Bezzecchi
Marco Bezzecchi was third after the first flying lap, but then the Italian crashed off his Aprilia in turn 7. It was a highside in fourth gear at around 160 km/h.
Bezzecchi was thrown around multiple times in the gravel trap before coming to rest. After a few moments to catch his breath, he was able to stand up and walk away. After the serious crash in Assen, this was far from ideal.
Marc Marquez makes three time attacks
After the first Q2 attempts, Raul Fernandez initially led with 1:19.262 minutes ahead of Alex Marquez and Di Giannantonio. Marc Marquez was in fourth place but pursued a different strategy.
His tactic: After the first attempt, Marc Marquez came into the pits, switched to the second bike, and tried a new attack. Then he switched back to the first bike, where the mechanics had changed the tires.
With the second soft rear tire, the world champion improved to second place. Di Giannantonio followed the normal strategy with only one tire change. In his fifth lap, he set a new best time of 1:19.188.
In the last three minutes, Marc Marquez attacked again with fresh tires. With 1:19.041 minutes, he set a new lap record. His brother Alex improved to second place, just 0.061 seconds behind.
That decided the qualifying. Marc Marquez claimed his third pole position of the current season, his 77th in the MotoGP class, and the 105th of his career.
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“Yesterday I analyzed the qualifying attempt a bit,” Marc Marquez explains how he came up with the idea of two stops. “I found out that it was possible with the soft front tire.”
“But only for one lap, already in the second lap I felt a certain drop in tire performance. For this reason, the team and I developed the perfect strategy for three qualifying attempts.”
“The team was a bit surprised yesterday when I told them I wanted to do three attempts, but I think it was the right strategy. Especially the lap record here at the Sachsenring, last year with the 1000cc bikes, is really good.”
Brother Alex had to yield by only 0.061 seconds. “When I saw myself in P2, I saw who was first, and I saw Marc. At that moment, I was a bit upset not to have the pole, but still happy to see Marc and me at the top again.”
Besides the two Marquez brothers, Di Giannantonio secured third place on the front row. For the sixth consecutive year, a Ducati rider took the best starting position on the Sachsenring.
“I am really happy to have reached the front row, but I am much more disappointed about the stolen lap record,” says “Diggia”. “No, just kidding, I am really happy. The Marquez brothers were better than me.”
The other positions
The second row is led by the Trackhouse-Aprilia duo Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura. The first pursuer of Ducati and Aprilia was Quartararo in sixth place. For the first time since Le Mans, the Frenchman starts from the second row (see Q2 results).
Franco Morbidelli (VR46-Ducati) qualified seventh and will start the sprint from this position. On Sunday, he will be moved back three places on the starting grid because he obstructed Pedro Acosta (KTM) in Friday’s practice.
Clavicle fracture for Bezzecchi
Bezzecchi finished qualifying eighth, but after his crash, he was taken from the Aprilia box by ambulance. He had his left arm in a sling when he got in.
X-rays at the Medical Center showed a complete and displaced fracture of the left clavicle. Bezzecchi plans to return to Italy as soon as possible to have surgery.
Jorge Martin, who came to Germany as the championship leader, was ninth with his Aprilia. Places ten to twelve went to Acosta, Bagnaia, and Jack Miller (Pramac-Yamaha).
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The 15-lap sprint starts at 3:00 PM (see starting grid).
