Jorge Martin pipped Marco Ramirez in qualifying for the German Grand Prix to claim his 15th career Moto3 pole position.
Aron Canet shot to the top of the pile early in qualifying with a 1:27.032s, though Martin quickly usurped the EG 0,0 Honda rider with a 1:26.692s.
Martin's early effort stood as the benchmark for most of the session, with RBA Racing's Gabriel Rodrigo the only other rider in the opening 30 minutes to dip into the 1:26s bracket – albeit 0.295s adrift of Martin.
Canet's session came to a brief halt when a he crashed at the first corner at just under mid distance, while Martin's nearest championship rival Marco Bezzecchi was left playing catch-up after an early tumble at the Omega corner.
Bezzecchi was able to rejoin the session not long after his spill and recovered to seventh aboard his Prustel GP KTM, putting on a charge for the front row late on.
Martin improved in the closing minutes to a 1:26.434s despite encountering traffic on that lap, and was half a second clear of Nieto's Albert Arenas, who used the Gresini man as a reference on his best tour.
However, a final flurry of fast laps threatened Martin's place at the top of the timesheets, with Ramirez missing out on a debut pole by just 0.060s, with Enea Bastianini a further 0.004s behind to complete the front row.
Ramirez' Best Capital Dubai KTM teammate Jaume Masia will head row four after securing a career-best fourth, while Canet held onto fifth by just 0.005s ahead of Tony Arbolino.
Bezzecchi did briefly hold a place on the front row, but found himself shuffled back to seventh in the end ahead of John McPhee, who was dropped to eighth having had his final effort cancelled for exceeding track limits.
Ayumu Sasaki and Fabio Di Giannantonio completed the top 10, with Arenas dropped to 11th from second as a result of the late surge in laptimes.
FP3 pacesetter Lorenzo Dalla Porta was left stranded in 16th after suffering a highside at the first corner in the early stages of qualifying. The Leopard rider was able to rejoin the session, but was unable to defend his place inside the top 10.
Honda Team Asia's Kaito Toba also fell in the session, and has been taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks.
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