MotoGP: Marquez roars to pole position in Germany

World champion Lorenzo faces double trouble by falling to 11th place on fourth row

SACHSENRING: MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez will start today’s German Grand Prix from pole position after roaring to the fastest time in qualifying on a track where he is unbeaten since 2010.

Further good news for Honda’s Marquez is that defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo, second in the current championship, fell twice yesterday and is way down in 11th on the fourth row of the grid, his worst qualifying position in over three years.

Instead Marquez’s Spanish compatriot Hector Barbera of Ducati and Italian legend Valentino Rossi of Yamaha will pose the bigger threat from the front row after they came second and third respectively behind the Honda rider in yesterday’s final session.



Chasing a record tenth title Rossi has little room for error with a 42-point deficit to Marquez and 18 on Lorenzo after failing to finish three of the first eight races on this season’s circuit.

‘The Doctor’, as crowd favourite Rossi calls himself, fell at Austin, suffered engine failure at Mugello and then slid off in heavy rain three weeks ago in the Netherlands.



“It’s going to be complicated and I no longer have control over my own destiny,” said the nine-time world champion, with rain also expected at the Sachsenring today. “But I’ll fight through to the end.”

After the Italian’s stunning win in Spain, nobody could rule out another masterstroke in Germany, which is what he’ll need if he wants to beat Marquez on the rolling track which seems to suit the Spaniard’s brinkmanship.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2016.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.