Marquez continues Sachsenring pole streak

Marc Marquez has taken his eighth pole in as many years at the Sachsenring in qualifying for the German Grand Prix.

Marquez (Repsol Honda) denied Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) a maiden pole, with Marquez’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa the other rider on the front row.

For the second weekend in a row, both qualifying sessions took place on a wet track.

Petrucci had come through Q1 and, armed with that experience of the conditions, sat fastest for most of Q2, with just Jonas Folger (Tech 3 Yamaha) briefly holding a quicker time.

That was until the 13th minute of the 15-minute session, when Marquez went 0.160s faster than the Italian to earn his first pole in six races, and eighth in as many years in Germany across MotoGP and the junior classes (once in 125cc, twice in Moto2).

Pedrosa finished nearly half a second further back.

The second row of the grid will be Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Folger (Tech 3 Yamaha), and Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team).

Both Movistar Yamahas struggled, with Valentino Rossi starting out of position nine and Maverick Viñales in the middle of row four.

Viñales and Marquez experienced a controversial moment during the session when the two made contact just after the former had squeezed past the latter at high speed.

Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso split the factory Yamaha pair in qualifying 10th on his factory Ducati.

Pol Espargaro, on the other hand, took his Red Bull KTM through Q1 to an eventual seventh position.

The Spaniard had bumped Jack Miller out of the top two with the chequered flag flying on Q1, leaving the Marc VDS Honda rider 13th on the grid.

Last-start pole-sitter Johann Zarco is buried in 19th after the Tech 3 Yamaha rider failed to make any impact in Q1.

The Frenchman cost himself a chance of direct passage to Q2 when he crashed during Free Practice 3.

Sunday’s 30-lap race starts at 2200 AEST.

Qualifying: German Grand Prix

VIDEO: Marquez’s pole lap