Sachsenring MotoGP: Marc Marquez extends pole position streak
Marc Marquez claimed pole position for MotoGP's German Grand Prix as Danilo Petrucci and Jorge Lorenzo both ended up less than a tenth away
Marquez was only third after the first set of flyers as Maverick Vinales led the way, his 1m20.441s two thousandths of a second better than Lorenzo's effort in second.
During the mid-session lull, Marquez stayed out for an extra flyer and while he managed to slightly improve, he was still third, 0.089s adrift.
When the second runs began, Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci were first to improve as they moved up to first and second, the Pramac Ducati rider taking the lead with a new lap record of 1m20.295s.
Marquez's first attempt was good enough to slot between the Ducati duo, but his effort was thwarted by an impressive save at the Turn 3 right-hander.
The Honda rider had time for one last lap and he improved just enough to steal first place from Petrucci, beating him by 0.025s with a 1m20.270s.
It meant Marquez secured pole position at the Sachsenring for the sixth straight premier class season, extending his own personal record to nine years, when he competed in 125cc category in 2010.
Lorenzo was third, 0.057s adrift Marquez, while Vinales did not improve on his second run and had to settle for fourth, as the leading Yamaha rider.
He will share the second row with Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, who had to fight his way through Q1, and Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi.
LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow was four tenths slower than Marquez in seventh as Andrea Iannone led Suzuki's efforts in eighth.
Alvaro Bautista and Dani Pedrosa completed the top 10 as Alex Rins and Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the order in Q2.
Dovizioso and Johann Zarco were the biggest names to take part in Q1 but it was Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro leading the way before the mid-session pitstops.
But Dovizioso, who was only 0.02s slower than Espargaro at that stage, went three tenths quicker and topped Q1 with a 1m20.751s.
Espargaro couldn't improve his time and in the end had to settle for third as he was outpaced by the second LCR bike of Nakagami by 0.009s.
The Aprilia rider will only start the German GP from 19th as he received a six-place grid penalty for impeding Marquez in FP3.
Zarco was only fourth in Q2 and will start 13th, ahead of Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller and KTM duo Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith.
Local rider Stefan Bradl, who is standing in for the injured Franco Morbidelli, was 11th and will line up on the grid in 21st, one place ahead of Marc VDS team-mate Tom Luthi.
Starting grid
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m20.270s | - |
| 2 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m20.295s | 0.025s |
| 3 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | Ducati | 1m20.327s | 0.057s |
| 4 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m20.441s | 0.171s |
| 5 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m20.444s | 0.174s |
| 6 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m20.532s | 0.262s |
| 7 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m20.675s | 0.405s |
| 8 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m20.682s | 0.412s |
| 9 | Alvaro Bautista | Aspar Ducati | Ducati | 1m20.700s | 0.430s |
| 10 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m20.831s | 0.561s |
| 11 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m20.847s | 0.577s |
| 12 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m20.938s | 0.668s |
| 13 | Johann Zarco | Tech3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m21.059s | 0.789s |
| 14 | Jack Miller | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m21.183s | 0.913s |
| 15 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | KTM | 1m21.242s | 0.972s |
| 16 | Bradley Smith | KTM | KTM | 1m21.287s | 1.017s |
| 17 | Hafizh Syahrin | Tech3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m21.460s | 1.190s |
| 18 | Tito Rabat | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m21.546s | 1.276s |
| 19 | Scott Redding | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m21.749s | 1.479s |
| 20 | Stefan Bradl | MVDS Honda | Honda | 1m21.802s | 1.532s |
| 21 | Thomas Luthi | MVDS Honda | Honda | 1m22.012s | 1.742s |
| 22 | Karel Abraham | Aspar Ducati | Ducati | 1m22.159s | 1.889s |
| 23 | Xavier Simeon | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m22.709s | 2.439s |
| 1001 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m20.972s | 0.702s |
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