Pole position at the Sachsenring continued for Marc Marquez with a new course record, while Stefan Bradl narrowly missed the top 12.
Marc Marquez’s intentions were clear in Free Practice 3 on Saturday, with the seven-time world champion leading the opening session by three tenths of a second. This relentless push continued until FP4, where it consistently drove in the low 1’21 laps and finally finished the session in second.
At the beginning of the second quarter, all eyes were on the reigning champion, Marquez did not disappoint and immediately put a 1’20.5. A two-stop run around the narrow 3.7 km long Sachsenring helped Marquez to improve his own lap record and set a 1’20.195 for his tenth pole position in a row at the Sachsenring. Marquez’s tenth career pole at the German GP is his fifth of the 2019 season and his 57th pole in the premier class – just a small gap to Mick Doohan’s record.
Stefan Bradl was 1’21.227 in Q1 and was another two tenths faster than his time in FP3 as he improved his pace with every session. The time was less than two tenths of a second away from a Q2 transfer position and the German will start in 14th directly behind Dovizioso. Bradl’s previous record at his home game allows the German to aim for a top ten position, especially after a constant free practice 4 in the low 1’22s.
The 30-lap MotoGP race on Sunday starts at 2:00 p.m. local time, where Marquez will try to turn pole position into victory for the tenth time in his Grand Prix career.