Sachsenring MotoGP qualifying
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Tech 3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco sets the initial pace after the first round of laps, a 1m21.603s. Dovizioso has rolled out of his first proper effort.
Every rider but two has a fresh soft rear tyre on. Aleix Espargaro and Xavier Simeon have opted for the medium.
Green flag
Q1 is underway. Dovizioso will be favourite to advance, but the margins have been very small this weekend.
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Stefan Bradl is making his MotoGP return this weekend as replacement rider at Marc VDS Honda, with Franco Morbidelli still not fit enough to compete.
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Q1 line-up: Dovizioso; A Espargaro; Miller; Smith; Zarco; Nakagami; P Espargaro; Redding; Rabat; Bradl; Syahrin; Luthi; Abraham; Simeon.
Crash
Aleix Espargaro has copped a hefty six-place grid penalty "for riding in an irresponsible manner after going slow on the racing line". He'd blocked Marquez late on in FP3.
Checkered flag
Chequered flag in FP4, Andrea Dovizioso tops the session from Andrea Iannone and Jorge Lorenzo, both of whom are within a tenth of the leader.
Sachsenring king Marc Marquez is only 10th, 0.370s off.
Sachsenring king Marc Marquez is only 10th, 0.370s off.
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FP4 is in its closing minutes now, and it has highlighted the fact that the formbook has been all over the place this weekend.
Marquez's race pace looked better than anyone else's on Friday but he's had a pretty poor FP4, his race simulations disrupted by a small crash at Turn 1.
The Yamahas have looked decent earlier but are not very impressive at the moment, both languishing outside the top 10 - while their privateer 'frenemy' Johann Zarco is down in 19th.
Instead, Andrea Dovizioso leads the way with a very good 1m21.318s - but the Italian will still need to clear Q1 to avoid throwing away his chances.
Marquez's race pace looked better than anyone else's on Friday but he's had a pretty poor FP4, his race simulations disrupted by a small crash at Turn 1.
The Yamahas have looked decent earlier but are not very impressive at the moment, both languishing outside the top 10 - while their privateer 'frenemy' Johann Zarco is down in 19th.
Instead, Andrea Dovizioso leads the way with a very good 1m21.318s - but the Italian will still need to clear Q1 to avoid throwing away his chances.
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Marquez's relatively low-key Friday rang no alarm bells, as he clearly focused on race pace simulations. However, in FP3 – a session he's topped every year at Sachsenring since stepping up to MotoGP five years ago – he was closer to the Q2 cut-off than to pace-setter Andrea Iannone.
His race pace still looks pretty strong, and he should be odds on favourite for tomorrow – although a sub-optimal qualifying could make the race more complicated than would be necessary.
His race pace still looks pretty strong, and he should be odds on favourite for tomorrow – although a sub-optimal qualifying could make the race more complicated than would be necessary.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of MotoGP qualifying at Sachsenring, which will determine the grid for tomorrow's German Grand Prix.
Sachsenring, which looks increasingly likely to lose the race to another German venue next year, is firmly Marc Marquez territory, as he has won all of the past MotoGP five races here from pole position.
But Marquez is yet to top a session this weekend – and his pole streak looks in genuine danger.
Sachsenring, which looks increasingly likely to lose the race to another German venue next year, is firmly Marc Marquez territory, as he has won all of the past MotoGP five races here from pole position.
But Marquez is yet to top a session this weekend – and his pole streak looks in genuine danger.
By: Matt Beer
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