Marquez gets seventh Sachsenring pole in a row, sets MotoGP record – MotoGP

Honda MotoGP rider Marc Marquez took a seventh consecutive pole position at the Sachsenring and beat his own lap record set last year.

Marquez had a comfortable gap over his Q2 rivals from the get-go, taking the lead with a 1m20.575s lap on his first attempt and then immediately pitting for his second bike.

His second run ended with the Honda rider beating his own lap record with a 1m20.215s tour and he then switched tyres again.

Fabio Quartararo put some pressure on Marquez late in the session, but his best effort of 1m20.400s was nearly two tenths off.

Marquez then improved again as the session ended courtesy of a 1m20.195s lap and Quartararo took second on the grid just hours after dislocating his shoulder in the morning practice session.

Quartararo beat Maverick Vinales by 0.006s and the Yamaha riders will share the front row with Marquez on Sunday.

Suzuki’s Alex Rins, who had an early off-track excursion was fourth. Pramac rider Jack Miller was temporarily as high as second before settling in fifth as the best of the Ducatis.

Cal Crutchlow was an impressive sixth, despite his injured right knee for LCR Honda, followed by SIC Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli and the KTM of Pol Espargaro.

Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) completed the top 10 with Yamaha and Ducati factory riders Valentino Rossi and Danilo Petrucci rounding out the Q2 order.

Rossi had advanced from the first part of qualifying in the top position, but his session ended with a fall at Turn 1 that seemed to compromise his subsequent Q2 run.

Petrucci had a disastrous Q2 and was furious with Mir, who appeared to impede him early on, and he then suffered a high-speed crash at Turn 9.

Petrucci’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso struggled in Q1, initially looking flustered by Karel Abraham trying to get behind him for a tow, and the Ducati rider was sitting outside the top two after the opening runs.

Dovizioso made a solid improvement at the beginning of his second run but he was swiftly demoted from the top spot by Rossi.

Nakagami has been forced to use crutches since his accident in the Dutch TT, but he edged Dovizioso by three-thousandths of a second as the chequered flag fell.

Dovizioso will now start the German GP 13th alongside the Honda of local rider Stefan Bradl.

Aleix Espargaro led his Aprilia team-mate Andrea Iannone to secure 15th and 16th respectively for the manufacturer.

Johann Zarco was a disappointing 19th, sandwiched by Tech 3 KTM’s Hafizh Syahrin and Miguel Oliveira.

Avintia Ducati rider Tito Rabat crashed at Turn 1 and will round out the grid in 22nd.

Starting grid