Marc Marquez claims pole for Germany MotoGP, Marco Bezzecchi has heavy crash
Marc Marquez took his third pole of the season in a tight German Grand Prix qualifying
Reigning MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez snatched pole for the German Grand Prix, as Marco Bezzecchi suffered another massive crash on his Aprilia.
Ending Friday fastest of all, Marc Marquez came into qualifying as the favourite to clinch pole.
Though facing stiff opposition, the Ducati rider utilised a two-stop strategy in the 15-minute Q2 session to ultimately produce a 1m19.041s to claim his third pole of the campaign with a new lap record.
He did so by just 0.061s over younger brother Alex Marquez, while Fabio Di Giannantonio made it a Ducati 1-2-3 on the grid in third.
The leading Aprilia was fourth, with Raul Fernandez leading Trackhouse team-mate Ai Ogura.
Marco Bezzecchi’s difficulties continued on Saturday morning when he suffered a huge highside crash at Turn 7 in the early stages of Q2.
The Aprilia rider’s RS-GP broke into a slide going through the downhill left-hander and flicked him into the air when the rear tyre gripped again.
He walked away from the crash, but didn’t make it back out. It marks his second big crash in as many rounds, following his Assen fall.
Bezzecchi will start eighth, though was taken to the medical centre by ambulance after returning to the paddock.
Marc Marquez set the early pace with a 1m19.576s, though VR46’s Di Giannantonio instantly bettered this with a 1m19.5s.
Fernandez then guided his Trackhouse Aprilia to a 1m19.262s to take over as provisional polesitter.
With just over five minutes to go, Di Giannantonio re-established himself as polesitter with a 1m19.188s.
But Marquez would ultimately produce a new lap record of 1m19.041s to clinch top spot.
Just 0.147s covered the top three, with Fernandez the only other rider within 0.2s of Marquez’s pole time.
Fabio Quartararo came through Q1 to qualify sixth on the leading Yamaha, with VR46’s Franco Morbidelli seventh on the sister VR46 Ducati.
However, he will drop three grid positions on Sunday for impeding Pedro Acosta in Practice on Friday.
Championship leader Jorge Martin was only ninth in a disappointing session for the Aprilia rider, while Acosta was 10th on the KTM.
Pecco Bagnaia topped Q1, but could do no more than 11th on his factory Ducati ahead of Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller.
No Honda rider made it through to the pole shootout session, with Joan Mir the brand’s leading contender in 13th.
