Marc Marquez secured his 57th premier class pole position on Saturday at Germany's Sachsenring, putting him one shy of Mick Doohan's record 58.
The Spaniard posted a best time of 1:20.125 – the fastest time of the weekend – to take his seventh consecutive pole at the circuit. He sailed to the top of the timing screens ahead of Petronas Yamaha SRT's Fabio Quartararo by 0.205s.
An injured Quartararo applied some pressure to Marquez in the closing minutes of Q2, but the Honda man went on to improve again and moved clear as the chequered flag fell.
Maverick Vinales completes the front-row after he was pipped by just 0.006s at the very last minute.
Alex Rins starts fourth despite an early off, followed by Jack Miller and Cal Crutchlow on row three. The LCR Honda man impressed after riding with an injured knee.
Franco Morbidelli, Pol Espargaro, Joan Mir and Takaaki Nakagami completed the top ten as Yamaha's Valentino Rossi and Ducati's Danilo Petrucci made up 11th and 12th, having struggled in the competitive session. Petrucci also complained of being impeded by Mir.
