The ‘King of the Sachsenring’ takes his 8th straight pole

Marc Marquez
Marc Marquez

Marc Marquez today extended a remarkable run of pole positions at the Sachsenring circuit to eight from the last eight seasons, the Spaniard clocking the fastest time in qualifying this afternoon to secure top spot on the grid for tomorrow's race. Marquez was the only rider able to dislodge Danilo Petrucci from a provisional pole position that the Italian held for most of the session, with a time of 1'27.302 proving enough to complete the job. Dani Pedrosa was six tenths off his team-mate on pole but completes the front row in third position.

In a late rush for pole as the sun began to peek out, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) was a key protagonist in the session and will start fourth, ahead of home hero and rookie Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) completes the second row, putting in a solid performance as he gets to grips with the Desmosedici in the rain.

Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was the second man to move through from Q1, and the Spaniard took the Austrian factory's best ever qualifying result in seventh to continue the incredible form into Q2. Older brother Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) complete the third row.

Vinales struggled in the rain
Vinales struggled in the rain

Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was another of those to have a slightly more difficult session to take tenth, but starts ahead of key rival in the points standings Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), who was eleventh fastest in the wet. Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) completes the top twelve on the grid from Q2.

Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) just missed the cut in Q1 and will start P13, with Loris Baz (Reale Avintia Racing) and Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the top fifteen.

One big name further down the grid for the German GP is Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) after a more difficult weekend for the French rookie superstar, with Zarco readying himself to line up in P19.

Marc Marquez
When I saw that it was going to be a wet qualifying session, I set a front-row position as my target. Anyway, I’ve felt very good on the bike since the beginning and I saw that the rain was easing off, so I tried to find a good rhythm as I prepared to attack in the final stages. Halfway into the session there was a bit of confusion with Maverick. In qualifying everyone pushes a lot and there was some contact, but luckily nothing happened. In the end I was able to do a very good lap and I’m quite happy with that, as it’s always very difficult to manage in the rain. Now we just need to focus on the race, which will be tough as there are many fast riders with a good pace, starting with my teammate! It seems that it won’t rain, but whatever conditions we find, it will be okay, as we have a really good pace both in the dry and in the wet.

Results

Pos No. Rider Nat Team Bike Ses Time Behind Gap
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q2 1'27.302 0.000 0.000
2 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA OCTO Pramac Racing DUCATI Q2 1'27.462 0.160 0.160
3 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q2 1'27.949 0.647 0.487
4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda HONDA Q2 1'28.089 0.787 0.140
5 94 Jonas FOLGER GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA Q2 1'28.210 0.908 0.121
6 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team DUCATI Q2 1'28.383 1.081 0.173
7 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q2 1'28.402 1.100 0.019
8 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA Q2 1'28.526 1.224 0.124
9 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA Q2 1'28.669 1.367 0.143
10 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI Q2 1'28.703 1.401 0.034
11 25 Maverick VIÃ'ALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA Q2 1'28.823 1.521 0.120
12 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team DUCATI Q2 1'28.968 1.666 0.145
13 43 Jack MILLER AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA Q1 1'27.967 (*) 0.279 0.279
14 76 Loris BAZ FRA Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI Q1 1'27.979 (*) 0.291 0.012
15 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q1 1'28.015 (*) 0.327 0.036
16 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI Q1 1'28.103 (*) 0.415 0.088
17 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM Q1 1'28.285 (*) 0.597 0.182
18 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI Q1 1'28.404 (*) 0.716 0.119
19 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA Q1 1'28.444 (*) 0.756 0.040
20 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team DUCATI Q1 1'28.625 (*) 0.937 0.181
21 22 Sam LOWES GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA Q1 1'28.659 (*) 0.971 0.034
22 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI Q1 1'29.504 (*) 1.816 0.845
23 45 Scott REDDING GBR OCTO Pramac Racing DUCATI Q1 1'29.578 (*) 1.890 0.074
24 53 Tito RABAT SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA Q1 1'30.028 (*) 2.340 0.450

* Q1