The classification of the MotoGP German GP, ??held at the Sachsenring circuit, will go down in history for being the fourth pole position of the season for Italian Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (Ducati Desmosedici GP23), but above all for the three falls of Marc Marquez (Honda RC 213 V). The Catalan crashed once in Q1 and another two in Q2, and despite everything he will start seventh. His career will remain to his memory to go for the bike after falling in the last corner of the circuit to fight to enter Q2.
Bagnaia set a best time of 1:21.409, ahead of his compatriot Luca Marini (Ducati Desmosedici GP22), who did his best lap behind Marc Márquez, and Australian Jack Miller (KTM RC 16), third.
For his part, Marc Márquez fell in the first classification at the entrance curve to the finish line, ran back to his workshop to get the second motorcycle and get into the second classification and, later, in this one, he crashed a first once in turn thirteen, although after inflicting a severe blow, he was able to return to his workshop on the bike. He went out again to try to improve his classification and ended up on the ground again, for the third time, now in turn one. He was seventh at the end.
As if it were an omen of what could happen on Sunday in the long race, Marc Márquez dominated the third free practice session, prior to qualifying, by setting the best lap on his last lap and beating his brother Alex ( Ducati Desmosedici GP22), who until then had commanded the table, but the whole panorama changed radically in the official classification.
Barely 28 thousandths of a second separated the two brothers, with the third protagonist, the Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati Desmosedici GP23), who yesterday was involved in a serious accident with Marc Márquez at the exit of the workshop street, third to 91 thousandths of the Honda pilot.
From the initial moments of the first classification, Marc Márquez assumed the responsibility of commanding the time table, followed by more than a second by the Italian Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha YZR M 1), but still with many laps to try to improve, especially due to the fact that the rain had stopped falling and the asphalt was drying very quickly.
Márquez made a first entry into workshops to mount mixed tires and with them try to “scratch” a tenth of a second off his best time, waiting for a second visit to the workshop to test with dry tires if the track conditions they allowed it.
From the initial record of 1:27.636 in his second lap, Marc Márquez attempted a second fast lap in which he had led the first three sets in a fast lap, but he crashed on the entrance curve to the finish line and almost without ceasing to drag down the the ground lifted and he ran up the shop street in search of his second bike.
After a titanic effort on the long climb to the finish line, Marc Márquez got on his second bike, equipped with dry slicks, to return to the track with around four minutes of practice to go.
On track, another Spaniard, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia RS-GP), took first place from Márquez by lapping in 1:27.269, which was later taken over by South African Brad Binder (KTM RC 16), with 1:26.838, the first in mount dry tyres.
Marc Márquez, after a first launching lap, managed to improve his time to ride by 1:25.681, one second behind Brad Binder, 1:24.655, but in any case with the objective achieved, despite everything, of moving to the second classification to look for a good position in the starting formation of the German race.
After what was seen in the first classification, all the drivers in the second took to the track with dry tyres, although both Brad Binder and Marc Márquez already had the “caught feel” for this new condition of the German asphalt.
But the leader of the world championship, “Pecco” Bagnaia, was not surprised, who was already in the lead on his first fast lap attempt -although shortly after they took it away for having achieved it with a yellow flag on the track-, while Marc Márquez he was on the ground in turn thirteen, flying through the air when he stepped on a wet area of ??asphalt and dealt himself a strong blow that forced him to run back to his workshop despite taking the three sets in the fastest lap.
At the same point that Márquez crashed, the Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) also fell one turn later and when the Spaniard decided to return to his motorcycle to start it and ride it to his workshop, which the driver could not do. Italian, who ran up the slope of the workshops as Márquez had done before.
After a tense wait, Marc Márquez returned to the track at the moment when Bagnaia was the leader with 1:22.028, while the Spaniard’s mechanics had to remove one of the wings from the motorcycle of his injured teammate, Joan Mir , so that he could follow the classification, in which he was twelfth and last.
In his first attempt he rose to seventh place, when Johann Zarco was the leader, ahead of Bagnaia and Miller, but both were overtaken by Jorge Martín who took second, although all the positions were going to change in the final lap.
Marini led the wheel of Marc Márquez, who crashed for the second time, the first time at turn thirteen and the second time at turn one, while the Italian was ahead of his compatriot Bagnaia by 78 thousandths of a second, Johann Zarco he went to the ground and Jorge Martín and Marco Bezzecchi had their fastest lap canceled for getting them with yellow flags waving on the track.
In the end, the best time and “pole” for Bagnaia, ahead of Luca Marini and Jack Miller, with Zarco, Bezzecchi and Martín on the second row, Marc Márquez at the end was seventh, on the third row with his brother Alex and the South African Brad Binder.
In the fourth and last row of the second classification finished Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia RS-GP), Enea Bastianini (Ducati Desmosedici GP23) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha YZR M 1).
