Marquez on pole with record lap

Marc Marquez notched a new best pole lap in the MotoGP™ Q2 session at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring, with Dani Pedrosa and Stefan Bradl also on row one – Pedrosa setting a fast lap before a crash.

A 1:20.937 effort from Marquez gave him pole by just under 0.3s from Repsol Honda colleague Pedrosa who went down at turn 1 with three minutes remaining. The rapid lap time for Marquez broke Casey Stoner’s six-year-old best pole lap record of 1:21.067 from 2008.

Marquez commented, “We started with a big crash on Friday but step-by-step we regained the confidence. Already yesterday afternoon the rhythm was quite good. In FP4 I felt very good, we improved the set up and I found some more grip. I pushed and I was able to get a good lap, beating the circuit record. Tomorrow is the most important, a big race before the holidays.”

Pedrosa added, “I had a good pace during qualifying, unfortunately I crashed. Maybe I made a mistake or I hit a bump. It’s still good. The front row and start are very important here as it is very tight. The weather is good but hopefully it doesn’t get too hot as the grip drops a little. Luckily I am okay after the two crashes, thank you to the mechanics for fixing the bike.”

The home fans were delighted with Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) registering a 1:21.340 lap, as the German qualified third having initially been on provisional pole five minutes into the session.

Bradl qualified third in Austin and fourth at Le Mans and Catalunya and he will be looking to convert this front row into a home podium.

“The result was very nice. I could see the crowd was behind me. The front row here is very important. The track is very tight so it is hard to overtake. The front tire is going to be critical tomorrow. We have a good pace but a lot depends on the weather,” commented Bradl. “In fact the weather looks difficult for tomorrow, but I hope to make another step.”

The second row features a strong Yamaha presence with Open-equipped Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) placing his Forward-Yamaha machine ahead of the factory Movistar Yamaha MotoGP bikes of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi on the grid.

Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) impressed again in seventh, ahead of Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) on row three. Smith suffered a fourth crash of the weekend in Q2 but was not hurt.

Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) was 10th, while Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) complete the fourth row having come through from Q1.

Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) missed out on a Q2 ride having crashed at high speed at turn 11, taking a big tumble through the gravel at the end of Q1. Crutchlow was unhurt and quickly went back to his pit box for a debrief despite initially looking quite shaken by the accident.

The Saturday afternoon qualifying action at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland was completed with Dominique Aegerter taking Moto2™ pole, just ahead of Mika Kallio and Esteve Rabat on the front row.

Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) achieved his first ever pole by registering a hot lap of 1:24.761 late in the session, the Swiss rider qualifying just in front of Marc VDS Racing Team pair Kallio and Rabat.

An improvement from 2013 Sachsenring winner Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2) gave him his best grid slot of the year in fourth, with Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team) and Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) joining him on row two.

Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing), Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) and Alex De Angelis (Tasca Racing Moto2) were the trio to qualify on the third row, while Randy Krummenacher (IodaRacing Project) will head row four as he completed the QP top 10.

Jack Miller set the fastest lap in Moto3™ qualifying at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland before rain affected the end of the session, so he will therefore start at the front of row one ahead of Alexis Masbou and Alex Marquez.

Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) set a new best pole lap for the Moto3 class at Sachsenring with a 1:26.997 time giving him the top slot on the grid, with experienced Frenchman Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) trailing by 0.109s in second – while Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) completes the front row with a 0.146s deficit. It is Miller’s fifth pole of 2014.

With light rain affecting the last 20 minutes of the session several regular frontrunners were caught out, with Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) qualifying 25th and Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) 17th.

The second row will feature rookie Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) and Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) as they all got fast laps in before the rain.

–From motogp.com

MotoGP Qualifying Results (courtesy Repsol Honda)

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