MotoGP: Zarco beats Quartararo to pole at the Sachsenring

Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) will start the German GP from pole position after pipping his compatriot Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) to top spot in qualifying. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) will complete the front row on Sunday.

Sachsenring lap record holder Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) will head into the race from the middle of the second row, just behind Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team). Barcelona winner Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) qualified in sixth while Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) topped Q1 to eventually finish 11th.

Reigning world champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) both failed to advance to Q2 and will have a mountain to climb in the race, starting from P17 and P21 respectively.

Q1

A high-profile Q1 saw the likes of Mir, Viñales and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) compete for a spot in Q2 and a shot at pole position.

Rins set the first meaningful lap in a 1:20.8 only a few minutes into the session. Mir initially lined up behind his teammate in P2 but was immediately knocked back down first by Binder and then by Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team). Rins improved his time to a 1:20.7 on his second flying lap and sat firmly at the top halfway through Q1.

The first flying lap of Mir’s second run looked on course for provisional P1, but time loss in Sector 4 meant it was only good enough for P2. Espargaro again took the Suzuki out of the promotion spots when he stormed into the lead with three minutes remaining.

Rins retaliated and moved back into P1 with the session’s first 1:20.6 – a time that wouldn’t be topped and sent the Spaniard into Q2 alongside Espargaro. Binder was quick through the first two sectors but lost out in the final stages of the lap, meaning P3 was the best he could do. Mir failed to post a good enough lap time and will go into the race from 17^th. Vinales had a quiet session and never got going, resulting in his worst ever qualifying position in 21^st.

Q2

Quartararo was the last rider to take to the circuit as he went for a sixth successive pole position. The initial benchmark meanwhile came from Miller in a 1:20.860 which was immediately bettered by Marquez’ 1:20.567.

Quartararo’s first flying lap would have been good enough for second but was scrapped due to exceeding track limits. The Frenchman, however, made no mistake on his second flyer and stormed to the top with a 1:20.437. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) had quietly made his way up the order and sat in third.

Miller went into his second run and posted fastest times through the opening sectors but kept losing out later on the lap, meaning his time was only good enough for P2. Quartararo set another fastest lap on his final run, but, out of nowhere, Zarco topped his compatriot with a 1:20.236.

Moments after taking provisional pole, Zarco crashed at T4 and brought out yellow flags with just over a minute to go. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) too went down and the session was effectively over due to the ongoing caution flags. Miller was the only rider with a flying lap left, thanks to his two-stop strategy working to perfection, but a moment at the final corner cost him an improvement and kept him in P4.

Zarco’s time stood at the top and earned the Frenchman pole position ahead of Quartararo and Espargaro who had quietly placed his Aprilia on the front row. Marquez was fifth behind Miller with Oliveira completing the second row.