Marc Marquez continued his Sachsenring domination as he secured an eighth consecutive pole position at the German Grand Prix venue on Saturday.
The Honda rider didn't have an easy time of it though as he and Pramac's Danilo Petrucci duelled over the top spot in wet conditions, with the pair eventually split by just over a tenth of a second.
Marquez's session almost came to an early end though after he and Maverick Viñales made contact. The Yamaha rider dived under Marquez before the Honda rider made heavy contact into the side of his rival at the following corner. The pair had a heated discussion after the session.
Dani Pedrosa completes the front row after a weekend of impressive pace, albeit +0.647 off the lead pace.
Briton's Cal Crutchlow will line up fourth ahead of Yamaha Tech 3 and home hero Jonas Folger, with both within a second of Marquez's pole time. Jorge Lorenzo starts sixth, completing the second row.
KTM's Pol Espargaro took the Austrian factory's best ever qualifying result in seventh to continue the incredible form into Q2, with older brother Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) eighth and nine-time champion Valentino Rossi ninth.
Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso was another of those to have a slightly more difficult session to take tenth, but starts ahead of key rival in the points standings Viñales, who was eleventh fastest in the wet. Aspar's Alvaro Bautista completes the top twelve on the grid from Q2.
Marc VDS rider Jack Miller just missed the cut to escape Q1 and will start P13, with Loris Baz and Bradley Smith just behind.
Last weekend's pole sitter Johan Zarco struggled for pace and failed to escape Q1, eventually finishing 19th quickest.
Discussion about this post