A tenth pole in a row for the reigning Champion sees him head Fast Fabio by two tenths, with Viñales close in third

Sachsenring, 6 July 2019: It started in the 125 World Championship, it continued in Moto2™ and now it’s seven times in a row in MotoGP™: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) continued his stunning form to make it ten successive Sachsenring pole positions in the HJC Helmets Grand Prix Motorrad Deutschland, the 9th round of the MotoGP World Championship, escaping the clutches of rookie sensation Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) by two tenths and on course to challenge for a tenth win in a row at the track on Sunday. Quartararo was once again a key challenger despite a big wobble in FP3 that partially dislocated the Frechman’s shoulder – on top of his ongoing recovery from arm pump surgery, with Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) completing the front row and missing out on second by just 0.006.

The drama started early as Q1 saw Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) lead Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) into Q2 to fight for the top 12, and that had some serious consequences for Championship challenger Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) as he was knocked out by just a few thousandths. He’ll face a fight back on Sunday from P13.

Meanwhile, at the front, Marquez was the first man to set a benchmark time in Q2, the number 93 slamming in a 1:20.575. But there was more to come, with an advantage of two tenths then becoming half a second as the Repsol Honda rider set a new all-time lap record. A 1:20.215 moved the goalposts 0.553 clear of his nearest challengers as the undisputed King of the Ring laid down the gauntlet for the riders to try and match. And slowly but surely, that half a second gap started to shrink, down to 0.185 as both Quartararo and Marquez headed onto their final flying laps – the 20-year-old just behind Marquez on circuit.

Both riders set a red first sector, Marquez was superior in the second, Quartararo then went through his favoured third split in the red…but so did Marquez. It all came down to the final sector of the session – would Marquez hold on for a tenth straight pole or would Quartararo steal it from the seven-time Champion’s grasp? Marquez did set a slightly faster lap and a couple of seconds later, Quartararo crossed the line but it wasn’t to be. But two tenths off Marquez in Q2 at the Sachsenring whilst not exactly fighting fit is a warning shot regardless.

Viñales finished just 0.006 off Quartararo to lineup in P3, his fourth front row start of the season, as Rins spearheads the second row of the grid in P4. By far the leading Ducati rider in qualifying, Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) had a great session to launch from P5, he’ll sit next to the brave Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) – the Briton qualifies sixth for the German GP despite suffering a torn ACL and a small fracture to the top of his tibia ahead of this weekend.

Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli leads Row 3 ahead of Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and the duo will line up with Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) alongside them. The Spaniard was involved in an incident with Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) after it appeared the Suzuki rider held up the Italian on the entrance to ‘The Waterfall’ and on the exit of Turn 12…

Just behind that drama, Takaaki Nakagami qualifies P10, with the Japanese rider beating fellow Q1 graduate Valentino Rossi by 0.033 to turn the tables on ‘The Doctor’ in Q2. To continue a more turbulent session for Petrucci, not long after his words with Mir the Italian then suffered a huge crash at Turn 9 as the front washed away. He headed to the medical centre for a checkup, and will race from P12…just ahead of teammate Andrea Dovizioso.

Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) was 14th as he replaces the injured Jorge Lorenzo, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) close behind in P15.

That’s it from Saturday and it’s 10 in a row for the sublime King of the Sachsenring, but pole position didn’t come easy and judging by race pace, Marquez might not quite have it all his own way on Sunday either. Can Quartararo, Viñales or the likes of Rins upset the applecart? And will the likes of Rossi and Dovizioso fight through the pack? The MotoGP class go racing at 14:00 local time (GMT+2) 5.30pm Indian Standard Time (IST).

Qualifying top-3: MotoGP:

German Grand Prix Qualification Results

Sachsenring, 5 July 2019: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) topped the timesheets on Day 1 of the HJC Helmets Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, but the reigning Champion had some competition at the venue he’s reigned nine times in a row. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was second quickest, but Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) stole a few headlines in both sessions. The French rookie was fastest in FP1, and in the latter stages of the day he was denied the chance to improve his lap first as he got held up by teammate Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and second as he caught Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) at the end of his final push. Does the rookie sensation have more in the tank for Saturday?

Conditions were warmer in the afternoon and almost the entire premier class field were able to improve their FP1 times within ten minutes of FP2 on a day of good weather in Germany – sometimes easier said than done – and two action-packed sessions, including 66 degrees of lean for Marquez and Quartararo’s determination to try and dethrone the king of the Sachsenring didn’t disappoint. And although the Frenchman didn’t manage that in the end, Quartararo’s rookie run of form in recent sessions is akin only to Marquez’ speed in 2013 – with the rookie now in the top three for 16 sessions in a row; a good omen for the rest of the weekend.

Assen winner Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), who finished on the podium here last season, was the man in P4 after the first day and just over a tenth off Quartararo, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) next up to complete the top five; the Spaniard putting in another stunner of a performance for Austrian factory KTM.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) was P6 despite struggling through the pain barrier after a cycling mishap, just ahead of the fastest Ducati on Day 1: Jack Miller (Pramac Racing). Miller led a Borgo Panigale 7-8-9 as he headed Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) by half a tenth, with Petrucci’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso only a further 0.005 in arrears. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) completed the top ten on Friday and therefore currently holds the last of the provisional places in Q2. The ‘Doctor’ was also in the top three in the morning.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was an infinitesimal 0.005 off that fastest ten, and he’ll be the first pushing to try and crack it on Saturday morning in FP3, ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), rookie Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and home hero Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team), who is standing in for the injured Jorge Lorenzo. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) completed the fastest fifteen.

It was a day with low rates of attrition and only Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) suffered a crash, the Italian going down in FP1. He missed FP2 as he headed for a check up in Chemnitz in the afternoon, rider ok.

That’s it from Day 1! The top ten after FP3 will go through to Q2, and that final chance to move up the timesheets starts at 9:55 (GMT+2) on Saturday morning at the Sachsenring. Does Quartararo have an ace up his sleeve? Can Marquez move the benchmark once again? Qualifying begins at 14:10 to decide the grid.

1 – Marc Marquez (SPA – Honda) 1:20.705
2 – Alex Rins (SPA – Suzuki) +0.341
3 – Fabio Quartararo* (FRA – Yamaha) +0.360
4 – Maverick Viñales (SPA – Yamaha) +0.488
5 – Pol Espargaro (SPA – KTM) +0.560

*Independent Team rider

Sachsenring, 4 July 2019: It’s Thursday and, as always, that means it’s Press Conference day so ahead of track action at the HJC Helmets Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was joined by Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), who recently re-signed with the Bologna factory squad, as well as rookie sensation Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), Dutch TT winner Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and rookie Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar).

First on the agenda for Marquez, who spoke first, was the Championship – and he’s got a good points buffer coming into the last race before the summer break, as well as nine wins from pole in a row at the Sachsenring…

“I feel good, I feel good because we are in a very good position in the championship. We’re in good form. Of course in Assen we had a really good weekend. It was one of our worst during practice but in the race we took 20 important points. We will see during the weekend. The opponents will show us the level, the target is to work in the best way, try to be competitive from the beginning and then we will see. Everyone expects a victory. Austin is the worst part on the calendar in the first part… We will try to be focused.

“For me, our key point, the most import thing is consistency. To have a bike and setup that is working pretty much good at all tracks and this is how to win a championship. And it’s the way were working. Doesn’t mean some weekend arrives somebody… for me in all weekends we need to be fast enough to be on the podium. We are working in that way, in that way our strong points are a little bit weaker but our weak points are a bit stronger so we need to manage in a good way.

Next up was Petrucci, and for him it was a little more a longer term talking point than simply Sunday’s race, with the Italian having been announced as remaining at the factory Ducati Team. Naturally, that dominated the first part of what he talked about.

“For sure it was a thing that both parts wanted to continue, this adventure,” says the Mugello winner. “The first part of this season has been very, very good. Since the first interview, I’ve said my target was to stay in this team for as many years as possible. Now, in the next season, I have a big opportunity. Now everybody says I can race with less pressure but actually we’re fighting for the top three in the championship and both Andrea and I want to enjoy some better races than Assen. We have a very, very big challenge. We’re halfway through the season and I think we can now be more focused on the track than off the track.

“In Assen, it was one of the strangest weekends of the year because on Saturday morning the bike was perfect, I rode one of the best bikes I’ve ever ridden, but in the afternoon,  it was the opposite. Just two hours later with the hot temperature. In the Sunday, we sorted our problem a little bit but for sure it was big gap to Maverick.

“We have to work on those conditions. For sure, we must work better with Andrea for a better strategy in qualifying, not the races because we’re free to do what we want. For sure, to be faster than our challengers is hard, the competition is really high.

Fabio Quartararo took to the mic next, and the Frenchman kept it short and sweet. Off the back of a second premier class podium and becoming the youngest ever rider to take back-to-back premier class poles, it’s all going well – despite his ongoing recovery from arm pump surgery.

“First of all its good to be back on a weekend,” he begins, with Germany arriving so soon after the Dutch TT. “Assen was really positive for us. We made really good pace in the first part of the race and for sure, here being at the new track for us on a MotoGP bike means I’m looking forward to it.”

So did he do some homework ahead of his Sachsenring debut? “Yeah! I looked at the last few races here in MotoGP and it looks like the Yamaha is working well at this track. At all the tracks the bike has been working well and I expect the same from this track.”

At Assen, especially, the Yamaha was working well, especially in the hands of eventual winner Maverick Viñales. On the top step for the first time this year for rider and manufacturer, was that win important? In a word, yes.

“It was very important. Especially to prove the work that we do on Friday and Saturday finally was then also done on Sunday. That was the most important, to keep working, keep fighting as always and prove we can be there fighting for the races.”

And at Germany? It’s a tall ask to beat the unbeaten, but history has shown no one is unbeatable. “I think Honda and Marc are the favourites, they are the ones to beat. We’ll try follow their speed, but it’ll be very difficult for sure. We’ll try and work in the same mentality as Montmelo and Assen, try be strong every session and then you never know. In the race you never know, we’ll prepare for the race the best we can and then let’s see. But the motivation is there, I feel really good, I have nothing to lose so I’ll push to maximum.”

Morbidelli shared some thoughts after his fellow Yamaha rider, after equalling his best premier class result last time out.

“Well…it’s been a good season so far. We were strong, we were having quite a good speed. Maybe we didn’t get what we were aiming for in some races due to crashes and mistakes. The speed is there, I’m having fun on the bike, of course there is always room to improve, there’s always room to improve, but its going well and I’m having fun.

“Sachsenring is a track where somehow I have always been fast from the first year I was here, I don’t know why. But that was Moto2. We will see what will happen in MotoGP, I didn’t ride last year due to injury. As Fabio said and as you know, the Yamaha works pretty well here so I am curious to see how the bike will react and how I will go at the track.”

Mir was the final man on the mic and he, of course, is also gearing up to ride the track for the first time on a premier class machine. After a tougher few races after a solid debut in Qatar, Assen saw him lead for the first time and get back in the mix.

“The truth is that during the first races I was struggling a little bit: bad luck, some mistakes; rookie mistakes sometimes. Now it looks like from Barcelona we’ve made a step every time. I’ve been stronger and can finish in good positions. It looks like we’re going in a good way, which I’m happy about. It’s my first time on a MotoGP bike here so it’ll be interesting to see how I react and how strong I can be. In past years we haven’t seen any good Suzuki results here, maybe we’ve struggled a bit, but this year we have a competitive bike at all tracks so let’s see.

“In the past, I have been quite strong here, winning some races. But also, this is MotoGP, it’s another story but I’m looking forward to it.”

Everyone is, although Marquez is on a roll at the ‘ring. Can the grid overhaul him in 2019? Or is the reigning Champion not infallible? Find out as track action begins on Friday morning, before lights out for the MotoGP race on Sunday at local time 14:00 (GMT +2). which is 7.30 pm Indian Standard Time (IST).