Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati Racing) at the press conference – the fast Frenchman is second in the World Cup ahead of the German GP and is still the best Ducati rider and thus actually right up there, just as we expected in January.

The composition of Q2 is in place – with many surprises

It was a drama in the last few minutes that was difficult to beat in the third free practice session, in which Quartararo was ahead of Zarco with seven minutes to go. With only ninth-fastest time, Maverick Viñales drove past the start-finish line and crashed when entering Turn 1. The Catalan then sprinted back to his pits, where he got another chance with his replacement bike to attempt a fast lap. When he was on the track three and a half minutes before the end of FP3, Pol Espargaró had just had his third crash of the weekend. While this missed the direct entry into Q2, Maverick was still on P11 on the hunt for it. But in the end it wasn’t enough and the following is the list of those who are directly qualified for Q2 in the afternoon.

POS#RIDERTIME/GAP
120F. QUARTARARO1:20.348
243J. MILLER+0.056
35J. ZARCO+0.085
488M. OLIVEIRA+0.103
541A. ESPARGARO+0.103
689J. MARTIN+0.153
730T. NAKAGAMI+0.212
863F. BAGNAIA+0.216
993M. MARQUEZ+0.314
1073A. MARQUEZ+0.334

Both Suzukis with Maverick, Rossi and Morbido in Q1

It is a first that three Yamaha drivers have to try to qualify for the last 12 in Q1 via the first qualifying. The two Suzukis hadn’t made it to the end either, although Joan Mir had even been in the lead in FP3. With the Marquez brothers it was even tight shortly before the end, but for the first time it was enough for both of them to save themselves the detour via Q1. The top three made the strongest impression in Q1 and with Jorge Martin, even a rookie made it into the top ten. Hopefully, three Honda’s right in Q2 finally seal the fact that the RC213V is anything but a problematic bike. Without his fall, Pol Espargaró might even have been in the top ten. Below is the complete ranking from FP3 and in italics the riders who have to pass Q1.

P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap 1st/Prev.
1, 20, Fabio QUARTARARO, 294.2, 1’20.348,
2, 43, Jack MILLER, 301.6, 1’20.404, 0.056 / 0.056
3, 5, Johann ZARCO, 301.6, 1’20.433, 0.085 / 0.029
4, 88, Miguel OLIVEIRA, 297.5, 1’20.451, 0.103 / 0.018
5, 41, Aleix ESPARGARO, 297.5, 1’20.451, 0.103
6, 89, Jorge MARTIN, 301.6, 1’20.501, 0.153 / 0.050
7, 30, Takaaki NAKAGAMI, 293.4, 1’20.560, 0.212 / 0.059
8, 63, Francesco BAGNAIA, 300.8, 1’20.564, 0.216 / 0.004
9, 93, Marc MARQUEZ, 297.5, 1’20.662, 0.314 / 0.098
10, 73, Alex MARQUEZ, 296.7, 1’20.682, 0.334 / 0.020
11, 36, Joan MIR, 293.4, 1’20.707, 0.359 / 0.025
12, 21, Franco MORBIDELLI, 290.3, 1’20.749, 0.401 / 0.042
13, 12, Maverick VIÑALES, 295.0, 1’20.887, 0.539 / 0.138
14, 42, Alex RINS, 297.5, 1’20.889, 0.541 / 0.002
15, 9, Danilo PETRUCCI, 295.0, 1’20.903, 0.555 / 0.014
16, 46, Valentino ROSSI, 294.2, 1’20.961, 0.613 / 0.058
17, 10, Luca MARINI, 297.5, 1’20.978, 0.630 / 0.017
18, 33, Brad BINDER, 300.0, 1’20.988, 0.640 / 0.010
19, 44, Pol ESPARGARO, 296.7, 1’21.270, 0.922 / 0.282
20, 32, Lorenzo SAVADORI, 292.6, 1’21.415, 1.067 / 0.145
21, 23, Enea BASTIANINI, 296.7, 1’21.447, 1.099 / 0.032
22, 27, Iker LECUONA, 298.3, 1’21.669, 1.321 / 0.222

The Sachsenring

The new route with the characteristic omega (curves 3 to 5) and the most extreme relationship between left and right turns of all current GP courses.

World Championship stand in all classes after the 7th round at Barcelona

German Grand Prix schedule

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