Moto2 Germany: Marquez - from Q1 to first pole of the season
Alex Marquez was a figure of determination and confidence after bike issues left him all at sea after FP3, coming back in style to claim pole position with an early fast lap after graduating from Q1 in qualifying for the German Moto2 Grand Prix, round nine of the championship.
The EG 0,0 Marc VDS man set the pole lap of 1m 23.585s on just his third lap of Q2 and it held firm at the top of the timesheets. His main title rival, Tom Luthi (Dynavolt IntactGP) struggled to make progress despite heading straight into Q2 and will be further down the grid in twelfth.
Marquez is joined on the front row by Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46), who, despite finding the demands of the Sachsenring tough on his injured shoulder, mananged to rally for second, pulling back time lap after lap until he was just 0.079s short of the pole best.
German rider Marcel Schrotter gave the home fans something to cheer about as he persisted for third for Dynavolt IntactGP.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was the best rookie in qualifying, flying high in fourth after an impressive run for MB Conveyors Speed Up.
Augusto Fernandez was a solid fifth for Flexbox HP40 after both the Pons riders ran together on track, helping each other out. Former championship leader Lorenzo Baldassarri was near on times but lines up tenth tomorrow after the close session which saw all the Q2 riders within a second of the pole time.
Iker Lecuona had his best qualifying session of the year in sixth, blitzing his previous best of 15th for American Racing KTM.
Jorge Martin was not the top KTM with Lecuona ahead of him, but was the best placing of the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders after pole contender Brad Binder crashed out during the session, leaving him 17th after topping both FP2 and FP3.
Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) recovered from his practice spill for eighth in qualifying, while Assen polesitter Remy Gardner couldn’t quite match those heroics in Germany, he starts ninth for the SAG Team, with Baldassarri completing the top ten.
Jorge Navarro broke the lap record to top Q1, and then almost broke his bike by crashing at the start of Q2, but a swift turnaround by the Speed Up mechanics saw him recover enough for eleventh.
Sam Lowes was just 0.551s short of the pole time, but lines up in 13th for Federal Oil Gresini due to the tight nature of qualifying.
Bo Bendsneyder pushed the unfancied NTS to fifteenth after qualifying directly for Q2.
Jonas Folger replaces Khairul Idham Pawi at Petronas for another round, after topping FP1 yesterday, he failed to move out of Q1 for Petronas and starts 20th.
Briton Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) could only manage a time strong enough for 25th on the grid.
Dimas Ekky Pratama will take no further part in the weekend after experiencing further complications from the concussion he sustained when taken out by Stefano Manzi in Assen.
