MotoGP German GP: Bagnaia holds off Quartararo to grab Sachsenring pole
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia narrowly beat Fabio Quartararo to pole at the MotoGP German Grand Prix despite mistiming his final flying lap.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The short nature of the Sachsenring led Bagnaia to employ a three-run strategy in qualifying, but exited pitlane a few seconds too late on his last fresh soft rear to get his third time attack run in.
Despite this, no one challenged the 1m19.931s he’d already set to claim his third pole of the 2022 season.
Due to a power outage at the circuit just ahead of FP4, qualifying was delayed by almost half an hour.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro set the early pace with a 1m20.413s having suffered a small crash in the preceding FP4 session, but was quickly deposed by practice pacesetter Bagnaia with a 1m20.098s.
Bagnaia – who set a new outright lap record in FP3 on Saturday morning – before pitting for the first time for a new soft slick with just under 10 minutes of the 15-minute Q2 remaining.
On his first flying lap on his second tyre, Bagnaia fired in a 1m20.064s before carrying on to set a 1m19.931s.
He pitted again for a final soft tyre, but left pitlane just a couple of seconds too late to be able to get a final effort in.
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo had cut Bagnaia’s advantage down to 0.076 seconds on his penultimate flying lap.
But the Yamaha rider had nothing more to offer on his final tour, while yellow flags at Turn 1 for Takaaki Nakagami’s (LCR Honda) crash stopped a number of riders from attempting to challenge Bagnaia.
Despite missing his final lap, Bagnaia held onto top spot from Quartararo, while Pramac’s Johann Zarco was third on his Ducati.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Aleix Espargaro heads row two on his Aprilia ahead of Gresini rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio, who topped Q1.
Jack Miller was sixth on the sister factory Ducati, but is facing a potential grid penalty after crashing under yellow flags in FP4. The incident is currently under investigation.
Luca Marini was seventh on his VR46 Ducati ahead of Jorge Martin on the second of the Pramac GP22s, with Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) and Nakagami completing the top 10.
Marco Bezzecchi followed Di Giannantonio through Q1 on the sister VR46 Ductai, but could only convert that to 11th ahead of a frustrated Joan Mir on the Suzuki in 12th.
Honda’s Pol Espargaro was denied a place in Q2 by just 0.004s to Bezzecchi, though it was Enea Bastianini in 17th who proved to be the biggest shock exit in Q1.
The three-time race winner and championship contender has struggled all weekend at the Sachsenring and failed to find any gains in qualifying, the Gresini rider almost six tenths off his rookie team-mate Di Giannantonio in Q1.
Bastianini will start 17th behind LCR’s Alex Marquez and KTM duo Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira, while Marc Marquez’s stand-in Stefan Bradl was 18th on the sister factory team Honda.
Andrea Dovizioso struggled to 19th on his RNF Racing Yamaha ahead of factory Yamaha rider Franco Morbidelli, with the field completed by rookie trio Remy Gardner (Tech3), Raul Fernandez (Tech3) and Darryn Binder (RNF).
The 2022 MotoGP German GP is due to get underway at 2pm local time (1pm BST) on Sunday.
MotoGP German Grand Prix - qualifying 2 results
| Cla | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Francesco Bagnaia |
Ducati | 1'19.931 | |
| 2 |  Fabio Quartararo |
Yamaha | 1'20.007 | 0.076 |
| 3 | Johann Zarco |
Ducati | 1'20.030 | 0.099 |
| 4 |  Aleix Espargaro |
Aprilia | 1'20.120 | 0.189 |
| 5 | Fabio Di Giannantonio |
Ducati | 1'20.128 | 0.197 |
| 6 |  Jack Miller |
Ducati | 1'20.150 | 0.219 |
| 7 | Luca Marini |
Ducati | 1'20.168 | 0.237 |
| 8 | Jorge Martin |
Ducati | 1'20.219 | 0.288 |
| 9 | Maverick Viñales |
Aprilia | 1'20.468 | 0.537 |
| 10 |  Takaaki Nakagami |
Honda | 1'20.562 | 0.631 |
| 11 | Marco Bezzecchi |
Ducati | 1'20.593 | 0.662 |
| 12 | Joan Mir |
Suzuki | 1'20.732 | 0.801 |
| View full results | ||||
MotoGP German Grand Prix - qualifying 1 results
| Cla | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabio Di Giannantonio |
Ducati | 1'20.307 | |
| 2 | Marco Bezzecchi |
Ducati | 1'20.600 | 0.293 |
| 3 | Pol Espargaro |
Honda | 1'20.604 | 0.297 |
| 4 |  Miguel Oliveira |
KTM | 1'20.656 | 0.349 |
| 5 |  Brad Binder |
KTM | 1'20.757 | 0.450 |
| 6 | Alex Marquez |
Honda | 1'20.888 | 0.581 |
| 7 | Enea Bastianini |
Ducati | 1'20.905 | 0.598 |
| 8 |  Stefan Bradl |
Honda | 1'20.908 | 0.601 |
| 9 | Andrea Dovizioso |
Yamaha | 1'20.965 | 0.658 |
| 10 | Franco Morbidelli |
Yamaha | 1'21.020 | 0.713 |
| 11 | Remy Gardner |
KTM | 1'21.089 | 0.782 |
| 12 | Raúl Fernández |
KTM | 1'21.322 | 1.015 |
| 13 | Darryn Binder |
Yamaha | 1'21.322 | 1.015 |
| View full results | ||||
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Acosta: MotoGP paddock 'needs more people like Kevin Schwantz'
Who is riding at the 2024 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix?
The hockey expansion rule that could benefit Andretti's F1 bid
F1 Chinese GP sprint race and qualifying - Start time, how to watch & more
WRC Croatia: Neuville sets the pace to lead title rival Evans
FIA still chasing answers over bizarre Shanghai F1 grass fires
How a Shanghai to Sheffield journey paved the way for China’s F1 hero
Can anyone stop "changed" Bagnaia as Ducati tightens its grip on MotoGP?
The signs that MotoGP's Japanese powerhouses are changing for the better
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments