Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro continued their progress on an overall productive day in Germany and secured fifth and eighth place on the grid on Sunday in a field only divided by tenths.
Temperatures at the Sachsenring continued to rise on Saturday as the MotoGP World Championship drew closer and in some sessions was only a tenth of a second between the top 5.
After he hadn’t put on a fresh tire in Free Practice 2 on Friday, this was the first order for Marc Marquez, who immediately jumped into the combined top ten with a low 1’21. Another fast lap later in Free Practice 3 saw Marquez maintain his place in the combined top ten, advancing straight into Q2 for the second time since returning to racing. In qualifying, Marquez drove a 1’20.567, but unfortunately missed an improvement in the last minutes of the session due to incidents on the track. He starts fifth. The gap to the front is closer than on the last few laps and Marquez is trying to get the best out of Sunday’s race.
Espargaro’s day was hit hard by a fall in Free Practice 3 when he fell on his final flying lap of the session. The signs were positive that the lap time would help him finish in the top ten, but the crash meant it was another trip to Q1. The # 44 was unstoppable as he advanced into Q2 after constantly improving his times. With a late hour of 1’20.659, Espargaro secured eighth place on the grid and achieved his best qualifying result as a Repsol Honda team driver. Again, it was the closest distance that divided the field, only a tenth slower than his team-mate, but a row further back. Espargaro wanted a lot more from the day and is determined to make further improvements on Sunday.
All that remains from the weekend is a 20-minute warm-up session and then the German Grand Prix itself, 30 laps of the Sachsenring roller coaster action starting on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. local time. Who will be king of the ring?