World Champion, Marc Marquez (pictured above) has taken pole position for the German MotoGP at Sachsenring beating Casey Stoner’s six year old best pole lap record of 1’21.067 in 2008.
The Repsol Honda rider took pole by just under 0.3s from team-mate Dani Pedrosa who went down at turn 1 with three minutes remaining. Completing the front row is home favourite Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) registering a 1’21.340 lap, having initially been on provisional pole five minutes into the session.
Marc Marquez: “The weekend has been affected by the crash I suffered yesterday, but I kept my nerve and little by little we’ve been getting better. I felt good yesterday afternoon and I was much better this morning. In the few laps I did in FP4. I could see that we had a good pace and a chance to fight for pole position.
“With the first tyre I didn’t feel entirely comfortable, but with the second one I had a good feeling and could see that there was good grip, so I decided to push a little more and put in a strong lap. Starting from the front is important for the race tomorrow, because this is a circuit where it is difficult to overtake. We will try and keep up the pace from practice, which I think has been good.”
Dani Pedrosa: “It was a good qualifying session and we had a good pace, despite the crash which was my fault when I think I hit a bump under braking but luckily I’m fine. I’m very grateful to my mechanics for the work they did yesterday to get the bike back running again after my crash in FP2.
“Tomorrow we will try to do our best, position ourselves well from the start, make a good tyre choice and hope the weather is kind to us! Our set-up is definitely good, so I hope to have a good race.”
Stefan Bradl: “It’s simply fantastic for me to get a front-row start in front of my home crowd. I could see the fans waving and clapping their hands when I was on track and this is an incredible feeling. I think we have done a good job so far especially this morning when we found further improvements, so it’s easier for me to turn the bike.
“Actually the pressure is high now because everybody is expecting me to climb the podium but I will keep my feet on the ground because it’s most important to score points.”
The second row, meanwhile features a strong Yamaha presence with Open-equipped Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) placing his Forward-Yamaha machine ahead of the factory Movistar Yamaha MotoGP machines of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi on the grid.
Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) impressed again in seventh, ahead of Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) on row three. Smith suffered a fourth crash of the weekend in Q2 but was not hurt.
Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) was tenth, whilst Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) complete the fourth row having come through from Q1.
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) missed out on a Q2 ride having crashed at high speed at turn 11, taking a big tumble through the gravel at the end of Q1. Crutchlow was unhurt and quickly went back to his pit box for a debrief despite initially looking quite shaken by the accident.
MotoGP Qualifying Results
Q2:
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 20.937s 292km/h (Top Speed)
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 21.233s +0.296s 293km/h
3. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m 21.340s +0.403s 293km/h
4. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 21.376s +0.439s 286km/h
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 21.508s +0.571s 289km/h
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 21.651s +0.714s 293km/h
7. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 21.679s +0.742s 290km/h
8. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 21.771s +0.834s 291km/h
9. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 21.794s +0.857s 290km/h
10. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 21.906s +0.969s 292km/h
11. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 22.120s +1.183s 292km/h
12. Nicky Hayden USA Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 22.647s +1.710s 279km/h
Q1:
13. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 22.411s
14. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R)* 1m 22.436s
15. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 22.529s
16. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 22.659s
17. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R) 1m 22.778s
18. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m 22.845s
19. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 22.888s
20. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Avintia) 1m 23.029s
21. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Avintia)* 1m 23.423s
22. Broc Parkes AUS Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART)* 1m 23.428s
23. Danilo Petrucci ITA IodaRacing Project (ART) 1m 23.484s
Moto3 – Back to back poles for Miller
Jack Miller set the fastest lap in Moto3 qualifying before rain affected the end of the session, so he will therefore start at the front of row one ahead of Alexis Masbou and Alex Marquez.
Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) set a new best pole lap for the Moto3 class at Sachsenring with a 1’26.997 time giving him the top slot on the grid, with experienced Frenchman Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) trailing by 0.109s in second – whilst Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) completes the front row with a 0.146s deficit. It is Miller’s fifth pole of 2014.
With light rain affecting the last 20 minutes of the session several regular frontrunners were caught out, with Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) qualifying 25th and Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) 17th.
The second row will feature rookie Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) and Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) as they all got fast laps in before the rain.
Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Eric Granado (Calvo Team) and Juanfran Guevara (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3) will feature on the third row, with youngster Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3) heading row four as he completes the top ten on the grid.
Moto3 Qualifying Results (Top 10)
1. Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 26.997s
2. Alexis Masbou FRA Ongetta-Rivacold (Honda) 1m 27.106s
3. Alex Marquez SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 27.143s
4. Karel Hanika CZE Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 1m 27.357s
5. Danny Kent GBR Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo (Husqvarna) 1m 27.357s
6. Brad Binder RSA Ambrogio Racing (Mahindra) 1m 27.453s
7. Alex Rins SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 1m 27.585s
8. Eric Granado BRA Calvo Team (KTM) 1m 27.603s
9. Juanfran Guevara SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 (Kalex-KTM) 1m 27.673s
10. Enea Bastianini ITA Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3 (KTM) 1m 27.752s
22. Arthur Sissis AUS Mahindra Racing (Mahindra) 1m 28.370s
Be the first to comment