MotoGP 2025: Marc Marquez fends off Zarco for wet-weather pole in Grand Prix of Germany

Chemnitz (Germany), July 12 (IANS) Despite the wet weather coming into play, former World Champion Marc Marquez (Ducati Team) topped the qualifying stage and claimed the pole position for Sunday's Grand Prix of Germany at the Sachsenring Race Circuit near here on Saturday.

It was a tight affair, though, as Q1 graduate Johann Zarco (Honda LCR) pushed the #93 to the wire in a Saturday morning scrap that saw Marquez win by just 0.151s. That means it’s Ducati leading Honda on the front row at the Sachsenring, with Aprilia Racing also there after Marco Bezzecchi’s fine rain dance in Q2.

Zarco tops Q1 in rain

As forecast earlier, wet weather came into play during MotoGP Q1, and after a dry period during FP2, more rain fell, and it made for fascinating viewing in the opening 15-minute qualifying stint.

French GP winner Zarco was the pacesetter with just over five minutes to go, his best time was a 1:28.370, over half a second quicker than second place Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3). P2 was then Raul Fernandez’s (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), but the Spaniard’s stint in the top two was brief because Viñales went P1 with two minutes to go, before Zarco returned to the summit. Zarco and Viñales sailed into Q2, with Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) missing out by a couple of tenths in P3.

Pole fight goes to the wire

There was immediate drama. Viñales, on his out-lap, was thrown off his Tech3 KTM at Turn 4. The Spaniard was quickly on his feet, but that was far from an ideal start to Q2. And then, at the same corner, Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) was down in almost identical fashion.

The Australian was straight back on his feet too, but it was another rear-end crash as conditions were visibly trickier than Q1. The first reference lap time was a 1:31.419 set by Brad Binder (Red Bull KT Factory Racing), before the South African then dipped into the 1:29s for the first time. It was Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) who jumped to P1, though the Italian’s time was a 1:29.776.

The lap times continued to drop, and with eight minutes to go, Marc Marquez led Q2 for the first time. The championship leader clocked 1:28.730 and despite a moment at the top of the Waterfall on his next flyer, Marquez went quicker again by 0.4s.

At this stage, he was 1.3s clear in the chase for German GP pole position, make that 1.5s after his latest attack. Zarco got that back to under a second shortly after, with Bezzecchi provisional P3 with five minutes left on the clock.

Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was chipping away and raised himself to P6, with both Zarco and Bezzecchi now 0.8s away from Marc Marquez’s table-topping effort. That was then 0.5s for Bez, and the same could be said for Morbidelli as the Italians closed in.

Zarco was just 0.002s off Marquez’s time, and across the line, it was a slender 0.065s. But Marc Marquez could not be thwarted as he was improving by 0.2s through sector three, Zarco was chasing hard, but the Ducati star’s lap was good enough to beat Zarco’s final effort by a tenth and a half, and after setting a red split through the second sector, Morbidelli’s pole position attempt ended with a crash at Turn 8.

With that, Marc Marquez clinched MotoGP pole position No.73 with Zarco and Bezzecchi making it three manufacturers on the front row.

Morbidelli spearheads the second row ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and the impressive Alex Marquez as the latter aims to limit the potential championship damage while nursing that fractured left hand.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) will be P7 on the grid. He will be joined on Row 3 by Friday pacesetter Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Miller, with Binder, a disappointed Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), and Viñales completing the top 12.

--IANS

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