MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez outduelled Johann Zarco in an enthralling German Grand Prix pole fight at the Sachsenring.
With the track already wet in Q1 and then getting wetter for Q2, Marquez thrived initially in the difficult conditions - but was reeled in by his rivals as the session entered its final minutes.
It came down to the final laps of Marquez and Q1 pacesetter Zarco, both improvements, with Marquez's 1m27.811s proving a tenth and a half better thanks in particular to a very strong final sector.
Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi was in with an outside shot at the end but had to settle for a place on the front row.
Morbidelli was on corse for pole but Turn 8 caught him out 💥#GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/LNsOWSywGS
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 12, 2025
VR46 Ducati's Franco Morbidelli could've denied him that place, but crashed on a personal best lap in the end, ending up fourth ahead of Pedro Acosta (KTM) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati).
Maverick Vinales had made it through Q1 despite a lost final lap, but then immediately highsided at Turn 4 at the start of Q2.
35 seconds in and Maverick has CRASHED 🫢#GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/uE0RrDit6T
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 12, 2025
He was quickly up on his feet, but headed to the medical centre instead of rejoining the session - so was resigned to 12th on the grid. Vinales has since gone to hospital for checks on his shoulder.
Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) had an almost carbon copy crash at the same corner minutes after Vinales, but managed to rejoin the session on his spare bike and completed the third row in the end - behind Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati).
Brad Binder (KTM) set a laptime good enough for sixth at the end but had it stricken off, presumably due to yellow flags, so will start 10th ahead of Ducati's Pecco Bagnaia - who really struggled during Q2, both for pace and for getting clean laps in.
Provisional German GP grid
1 M Marquez 2 Zarco 3 Bezzecchi
4 Morbidelli 5 Acosta 6 A Marquez
7 Quartararo 8 Di Giannantonio 9 Miller
10 Binder 11 Bagnaia 12 Vinales
13 Oliveira 14 Aldeguer 15 Marini
16 Fernandez 17 Mir 18 Rins
19 Ogura 20 Savadori
Miguel Oliveira and Fermin Aldeguer couldn't quite capitalise on a Vinales error in the final seconds of Q1, finishing two and three tenths respectively behind the KTM rider in the second transfer spot.
Luca Marini marked his MotoGP return by outqualifying Honda team-mate Joan Mir, with Raul Fernandez between them - the Trackhouse Aprilia rider looking like a Q2 contender in the early going but struggling to put one final lap together.
Alex Rins (Yamaha) will be a dispiriting 18th on the grid, with rookie Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) a no less dispiriting 19th.
The weather forecast had been bad news for Ogura, who admitted on Friday that he is just "not so good at rain conditions" - but he did at least pick off Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori late on to avoid last on the grid.
Twenty riders will contest the race, with LCR Honda only replacing the injured Somkiat Chantra next time out at Brno and Tech3 leaving one of its KTM entries vacant following Enea Bastianini's withdrawal with appendicitis.
from The Race https://ift.tt/dJAbkrs
No comments: