Marc Marquez ‘played’ one MotoGP rival at the German Grand Prix but he had the last laugh

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Marc Marquez is the undisputed king of the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, yet the Ducati star was only the third-fastest rider during Friday’s timed practice session.

The 32-year-old can seal his 12th career victory at the German GP this weekend, having won once in the 125cc class and twice in Moto2 before scoring eight MotoGP triumphs in Saxony. Marquez has also taken pole position at the Sachsenring six times in his premier class visits.

Such is the Spaniard’s strength around the track featuring 10 left-hand corners from 13 turns that Francesco Bagnaia feels ‘everyone’ backs Marquez to ‘destroy everyone’ at the German GP. Even the six-time premier class champion was taking things easy in practice this Friday.

Neil Hodgson praises Marc Marquez after he ‘played’ Fabio Di Giannantonio at the German Grand Prix

After the Ducati rider set the pace in the opening session for the 2025 German GP weekend with a 1:20.372 lap on Friday morning, Marquez improved his time to a 1:19.461 in the pre-qualifying session. The Cervera native knew his time would be enough to secure a Q2 place.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend

So, as the field flocked out for their time attack runs at the end of Friday, Neil Hodgson feels Marquez ‘played’ with Fabio Di Giannantonio. The VR46 star tried to use the Ducati ace as a marker, so he sat behind Marquez leaving the pit lane, yet only he was going for a timed lap.

Hodgson said on TNT Sports 2 (11/07, 14:07): “Marc’s played him so well because he’s got a medium rear tyre on, so he’s not even going to try and go fast. I quite like that.

“That’s quite funny. Exactly, [Marquez knew what he was doing by crawling out of the pit lane], which encouraged [Di Giannantonio] to stay behind him. And then it’s like, ‘I’ve only got a medium rear on anyway and I wasn’t going to go fast.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio had the last laugh by setting the pace in practice at the Sachsenring

But, while Hodgson found the funny side from Marquez’s antics during practice on Friday, Di Giannantonio had the last laugh as he still set the new all-time fastest two-wheel lap around the Sachsenring. The VR46 star beat Gresini’s Alex Marquez for the top spot with a 1:19.071.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Fabio Di Giannantonio from net worth to AS Roma

Alex Marquez briefly eclipsed his elder brother’s lap by just 0.053 seconds to edge atop the timesheet into the final seconds of the session. But Di Giannantonio strung together a flying finish to go 0.337s clear of the Gresini rider, while Ducati’s Bagnaia finished 0.627s shy in P9.

Di Giannantonio could only laugh after returning to the VR46 garage as he revelled in setting the pace in practice for the German GP. The 26-year-old will now hope to convert his pace in qualifying, having not qualified higher than P7 since he sealed P5 in Qatar seven rounds ago.