The World of Motorcycling- News detail

King of the Ring once again, the reigning World Champion does the business on Saturday in Germany and is now 32 points behind the Championship lead

He was the favourite coming into the weekend and lived up to the billing all day on Saturday: it was pole position followed by another Sachsenring success story for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) as the #93 took victory in the Tissot Sprint. Lights to flag is one half but there was pressure applied throughout the 15-lap encounter from Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) who finished second and third respectively.

LIGHTS OUT: Marquez 1-2 out the traps

Lights out, holeshot bagged: Marc Marquez got the job done to lead ahead of his brother into Turn 1. Behind, a fast start from Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP) saw him move up into third but by the end of the opening lap, Di Giannantonio had got himself ahead. Further back, Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) was up into sixth from his P8 grid slot, whilst Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was battling with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) for P8 and P9.

Approaching half distance, there was a crash for Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), ending his Sprint early. Back at the front and having been nose to tail, the top three had started spreading out with Marc Marquez able to put half a second into his younger brother. ‘Diggia’ was a further six tenths back by the end of Lap 9 as the #93 got into his groove and started to break clear of those chasing in the early stages.

LATE PRESSURE: Alex Marquez and Diggia dig deep

It wasn’t all done just yet though; Alex Marquez was digging in and the gap to his reigning World Champion brother was down to 0.337s going into the final three and a half laps. Di Giannantonio was also closing back in on the brothers, was there something still left for the very end of the Sprint? The Italian was climbing all over the back of the #73 with just two laps to go and had set himself up for a final lap attack.

However, it wasn’t to be; Marc Marquez made it back-to-back Sachsenring Sprint wins whilst Alex Marquez took second, resisting Di Giannantonio’s late pace. The Italian closes in on the Championship lead though, just 13 points away from leading into the summer holidays and just two behind second overall.

IN THE POINTS: Championship complex changes behind

2.2s behind the podium battle, Ogura was fourth ahead of teammate Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Championship leader Martin, who’s advantage extends to 11 ahead of his absent teammate Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) secured seventh whereas behind, it was Acosta who won out ahead of Quartararo for eighth place. Just missing a Sprint point, Brazilian star Diogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) came home for top Honda honours in tenth.Now it's reset for Sunday and another showdown - with Diggia able to take the Championship lead but one Marquez eyeing another as the key rival. What will the Grand Prix bring? Join us at 14:00 (UTC +2) to find out.

Ortola stuns to edge out Gonzalez for debut Moto2 pole

A 1:21.493 on a Moto2 bike around the Sachsenring? That was a quite stunning new all-time lap record set by Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – R.O.M.E.A – MSI) in Q2 at the Liqui Moly Grand Prix of Germany, the exact time Valentino Rossi set in MotoGP Q2 back in 2013. Remarkable. And not far behind was championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP), 0.038s to be exact, while it’s second in the title race, Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2), who completes the top three.

Ortola’s unbelievable lap record was set early in the session to keep him P1 throughout, while Gonzalez’s stormer arrived in the closing stages to see the championship frontrunner gain crucial places on the grid, a time which pushed his chief title rival back to P3.

Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Azul Marino Aspar Team) spearheads the second row in P4, with Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) securing a decent grid slot in P5. The Aussie will attack for the win from there tomorrow, and Alex Escrig (KLINT Racing Team) will hope he can fight to clinch a debut podium from P6.

It’s a career-best qualifying for Taiyo Furusato (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) in Moto2, with the Japanese rookie starting P7, one place ahead of Dutch GP winner David Alonso (CFMOTO Azul Marino Aspar Team) – the Colombian has work to do from the middle of the third row.

Moto2 promises to deliver on Sunday, so tune in at 12:15 local time (UTC +2) to see if there are any title race twists before the summer break.

MOTO2 QUALIFYING RESULTS FROM GERMANY

Uriarte heads Moto3 front row split by just 0.029s

It almost couldn’t get any closer in Moto3 in Germany, with Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) coming out on top by just 0.024s ahead of Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) in the fight for pole, and Hakim Danish (005 AEON Credit - MT Helmets – MSI) hovering just a further 0.005 further back. The front row is split, therefore, by a crazy 0.029 seconds.

The spotlight was on Championship leader Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) in Q1 as he crashed on Friday and found himself outside the top 14, but the #28 came through with no drama. In Q2 he put himself fourth on the grid, a little off the front row but a solid starting position after a tough Friday. He’s just ahead of Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Rico Salmela (Red Bull KTM Tech3) completing Row 2 as the gaps become thousanths once more.

Matteo Bertelle (LEVEL UP – MTA) is next ahead of Jesus Rios (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Ryusei Yamanaka (AEON Credit - MT Helmets – MSI) on the grid, with Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) denying Cormac Buchanan (CODE Motorsports) the final place in the top ten. Nevertheless it’s a best qualifying yet for the New Zealander.

After a solid recovery job from Quiles he’s back in the mix, but can he keep that rolling on race day? Find out on Sunday as Moto3 go racing at the Sachsenring!

FULL MOTO3 QUALIFYING RESULTS IN GERMANY