Marquez Tops Qualifying
Moto GP 2014
Marc Marquez demonstrated his supremacy in the MotoGP ranks once again, as the Repsol Honda ace seized pole position at Sachsenring. The runaway points leader and reigning MotoGP champion took the top qualifying spot for tomorrow’s German GP ahead of his factory Honda teammate, Dani Pedrosa. The all-Honda front row is completed by LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, who is competing at his home GP. The factory Yamaha duo of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will have to chase the Hondas from Row 2, a they qualified a respective fifth and sixth.
Marquez secured his seventh pole position of the season in record-breaking fashion – having bested the standing lap record set by Casey Stoner in 2008. Marquez, who suffered a minor crash during Friday’s practice, was challenged for pole by his teammate. Pedrosa, who recently extended his contract to remain with the Repsol team, led qualifying before Marquez’s record-breaking lap. He was also giving chase in the closing moments of the session, when Pedrosa suffered a light crash of his own. Pedrosa was uninjured during the fall.
Bradl briefly led qualifying before Pedrosa and Marquez took over, but the German rider retained third position. The encouraging result before his home crowd is his second front row start of the season, having placed third during Texas GP.
Heading Row 2 is Aleix Espargaro, who humbled the factory Yamaha’s aboard his Forward Racing mount. The Spaniard, who was fastest on Friday, narrowly missed a front row start. As for the Lorenzo and Rossi, the Factory M1 riders both suffered grip issues during the session. While relegated to fifth and sixth, the team claimed optimistic of their race pace for Sunday’s GP.
Marc Marquez claimed his seventh pole position of the year out of nine rounds with his success at Sachsenring.
Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone was the fastest Ducati rider on the grid, having qualified seventh. The Italian bested the Tech 3 Yamaha duo of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith. Gresini Honda’s Alvaro Bautista rounds out the top 10 and leads the Row 4 starters alongside factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso and Drive M7 Aspar’s Nicky Hayden. Dovizioso’s factory Ducati teammate, Cal Crutchlow, dropped to 15th on the grid.
2014 MotoGP Sachsenring Qualifying Results:
1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) 1'20.937
2. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 1'21.230
3. Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) 1'21.340
4. Aleix Espargaro (Forward Racing) 1'21.376
5. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) 1'21.508
6. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) 1'21.651
7. Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) 1'21.679
8. Pol Espargarò (Tech3 Yamaha) 1'21.771
9. Bradley Smith (Tech3 Yamaha) 1'21.794
10. Alvaro Bautista (Gresini Honda) 1'21.906
11. Andrea Dovizioso (Factory Ducati) 1'22.120
12. Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) 1'22.647
13. Yonny Hernandez (Pramac Racing) 1'22.411
14. Scott Redding (Gresini Honda) 1'22.436
15. Cal Crutchlow (Factory Ducati) 1'22.529
16. Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) 1'22.659
17. Karel Abraham (Cardion AB) 1'22.778
18. Michael Laverty (Paul Bird Motorsport) 1'22.845
19. Colin Edwards (Forward Racing) 1'22.888
20. Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) 1'23.029
21. Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) 1'23.423
22. Broc Parkes (Paul Bird Motorsport) 1'23.428
23. Danilo Petrucci (Iodaracing) 1'23.484
