Marc Marquez left it until his final flying lap to claim a record ninth MotoGP pole position at the Sachsenring.
Marquez continued his form around a circuit he has won at 12 times over his career, posting a best time of 1:19.041s to head to pole position with his last lap of the session.
The Spanish rider was fourth after the first runs as Marco Bezzecchi suffered a heavy crash, high siding and barrel rolling through the gravel trap at Turn 7.
While Bezzecchi’s crash brought out the yellow flags, most of the riders were able to complete their flying runs, with Raul Fernandez heading to the top of the standings.
Fernandez was replaced by Fabio Di Giannantonio with five minutes left on the clock, as the battle once again appeared to ignite between Ducati and Aprilia for pole.
However, on his final flying run, the usual form of Marquez around the Sachsenring circuit returned as he headed to the top of the timesheets to claim pole position by just 0.051s.
Alex Marquez finished second after receiving a tow from his brother in qualifying, as the Gresini rider continued his promising pace from practice.
VR46’s Di Giannantonio completed the top three, as Ducati recorded a front row lockout for the first time in 2026.
Fernandez was top Aprilia in fourth, as team-mate Ai Ogura rounded out the top five.
Fabio Quartararo posted an impressive final run to take sixth at the flag after coming through Q1, joining the Trackhouse Aprilias on the second row.
Franco Morbidelli qualified seventh, but took a three-place grid penalty into Sunday’s race after impeding Pedro Acosta in practice.
Bezzecchi was eighth despite his crash, with team-mate and championship Jorge Martin right behind in ninth.
Acosta was 10th ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, who progressed from Q1 to 11th, and Jack Miller in 12th.
Joan Mir missed out on progressing to Q2 and headed the fourth row in 13th ahead of factory Honda team-mate Luca Marini.
Diogo Moreira qualified 15th but carried a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race, while Brad Binder was 16th and Enea Bastianini 17th.
Toprak Razgatlioglu’s best lap saw him take 18th at the flag, narrowly ahead of factory Yamaha rider Alex Rins.
Maverick Vinales was a second off the time that saw Bagnaia progress through to Q2 and finished 20th, with Cal Crutchlow continuing his replacement ride at LCR Honda in 21st.
Discussion about this post