Marquez Takes Pole at Soaking Sachsenring

Zarco pushes the championship leader right to the edge, Miller on the third row despite crash, while Bagnaia’s struggles continue down in 11th 

Amid treacherous conditions, Marc Márquez delivered another masterclass in qualifying to secure his eighth pole position of the season, establishing himself once again as the Sachsenring king, wet or dry.

Q2 was defined by falls, unpredictability, and a drenched circuit that caught out even the most experienced names. Maverick Viñales, fresh from progressing through Q1, suffered a brutal highside at Turn 4. Moments later, Jack Miller fell victim to the exact same location, showing just how dicey that section of track was.

With conditions easily the worst of the day, Alex Márquez was visibly cautious early on as he carefully got a feel for the grip levels, but eventually started setting mid-table times.

Marc Márquez briefly topped the timesheets before being shuffled back by Brad Binder, who was the first to dip into the 1:30s. But Márquez responded in typically emphatic fashion, surviving a massive moment through the waterfall section to drop into the 1:28s – clear of Johann Zarco in second by more than 1.3 seconds.

Zarco, always a threat in sketchy conditions, refused to back down. On the very next lap, he matched Márquez sector for sector, pushing the limits without dropping the bike. However, his final effort saw him fall less than a tenth short. Still, there was one lap left for both riders. Márquez immediately set about going even faster — setting consecutive red sectors to break into the 1:27s. Zarco came agonisingly close once again, also dipping into the 1:27s, but just couldn’t dislodge Márquez from P1.

Franco Morbidelli looked to threaten late as well, going fastest in the opening sectors on his final lap, but hopes of a dramatic upset were dashed when he crashed in the high-speed left at Turn 8. Despite the fall, Morbidelli’s earlier time was good enough for fourth, just off the front row.

Marco Bezzecchi put in a solid late effort to grab third and join the front row alongside Zarco, while Pedro Acosta was the fastest KTM rider in fifth. Alex Márquez, injury and all, gritted his way to sixth, ensuring a second-row start that few would have seen coming. Fabio Quartararo couldn’t do better than seventh despite pushing his M1 to the absolute limit, sliding both tyres spectacularly into Turn 1 several times.

Di Giannantonio was eighth ahead of Jack Miller, the Australian unable to truly recover after that early crash. Brad Binder, who had shown early promise, could only muster tenth by session’s end, while Bagnaia’s struggles continued as he ended the session in a disappointing 11th — over five seconds off his teammate. Viñales rounded out Q2 in 12th after his early crash ruled out any further involvement.

It was yet another standout performance from Marc Márquez, who once again danced on the very edge of adhesion in the sodden conditions. Zarco put in another heroic effort for Honda, going from Q1 to the second row, but the Ducati man looks tough to beat whatever the conditions — particularly as Diggia, the only man who seemed able to match Marc’s race pace in practice, is seven grid slots back.

2025 German MotoGP Qualifying