MotoGP Germany: Marquez takes dominant pole for Honda

Marc Marquez was in dominant form at Sachsenring in qualifying to take pole position for Sunday’s MotoGP German Grand Prix.

Marquez had topped practice as well and was in control of the field from the onset, leading the timesheets by four tenths of a second after the first run. The Spaniard later improved his laptime to 1:20.336 to stay clear of the chasing pack.

Dani Pedrosa was second quickest in the sister Honda, while Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo completed the front row, with a time that was half a second slower than Marquez’s record breaking benchmark.

Andrea Iannone led the charge for Ducati in fourth place, having briefly surged to the top of the qualifying standings. Johnny Hernandez was equally impressive in the Pramac, having made his way from Q1 to secure fifth on the grid.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi, however, starts from an unimpressive sixth, although one expects him to rapidly rise towards the sharp end of the field, given his current form.

Among the Suzuki riders, Aleix Espargaro qualified sixth while MotoGP rookie Maverick Vinales languished in 12th place in today’s qualifying.

With Marquez back in form after a troubled start to the season, it would be interesting to see whether the two-time world championship can claw his way back in the standings from the Yamaha pairing of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

MotoGP German Grand Prix: Qualifying Results (Top 10)

Marc Marquez (Honda) 1:20.336

Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +0.292

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.585

Andrea Iannone (Ducati) +0.693

Yohnny Hernandez (Pramac) +0.779

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.884

Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki) +0.903

Pol Espargaro (Tech 3) +0.938

Bradley Smith (Tech 3)+0.993

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) +1.073