Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez has taken charge of the Sachsenring timesheets this morning, topping the third session with a late lap on the soft rear Michelin to bea title rival Maverick Vinales by less than two-tenths with Jonas Folger in third.
Marquez spent a majority of the session putting laps on a medium/medium combination then switched to a softer rear to secure his place in qualifying two with a 1’20.745 but had top-ten pace with the medium rear.
Movistar Yamaha’s Vinales is so confident of his pace he did just two flying laps on the soft rear, the first a 1’20.915 but an error in sector two meant his second lap wasn’t in the ballpark. The Spaniard was on the medium rear for most of the session but as the pack started to move to the soft rear, Vinales changed to a hard before trying his time attack lap.
Folger’s 1’21.198 came on his 25th lap of 26 and was enough to demote the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro in fourth place but the pair are separated by just 0.011s with Britain’s Cal Crutchlow in fourth place and only 0.066s further back.
Marquez demonstrated concussive pace on the medium rear in the session, with more than 20 laps in the 1’21s and which was completely unmatched. Vinales was in the 1’22s until his 21st lap, when he dipped into the 1’21s for five laps and one in the 1’20s. Folger is a little way off but Espargaro is in the ballpark with five 1’21s.
Crutchlow’s pace looks to be in the 1’22s while Valentino Rossi had to contend with another electronics problem on his number one bike and spent the first quarter of an hour in the garage. The Doctor went out on the older-framed number two bike and ran 1’22 pace but then switched back to the upgraded frame on a medium rear to set some 1’21s.
Rossi then put in the soft rear and finished in sixth place with four laps in the 1’21s including a best of 1’21.311. Auld enemy Jorge Lorenzo put his soft rear to good use, ending in seventh place but had 1’22 pace with the medium rear.
Ducati-team mate Andrea Dovizioso nipped into eighth with a 1’21.422 on his penultimate lap while Dani Pedrosa had to recover from an early crash on the hard rear to bag ninth place. Alvaro Bautista’s 26th lap was enough on the soft rear to take the final automatic Q2 spot this afternoon.
Tito Rabat got a tow from Cal Crutchlow to take 11th place with Danilo Petrucci missing Q2 courtesy of a late crash at turn 13 on his time attack run. Hector Barbera ended in 13th with Jack Miller and Scott Redding completing the top 15.
Johann Zarco crashed with seven minutes left and didn’t get back out in enough time to set a meaningful lap. He ended in 17th but will be favourite to get through Q1 and into the final analysis.
Bradley Smith finished in 21st with Sam Lowes, who fell early doors, in 23rd.
