Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati ace Marc Marquez mastered the rain at the Sachsenring to score pole position for the 2025 German Grand Prix, as Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo only managed P7.
Marquez has now scored pole at seven of the first 11 rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season, as one of only two riders along with Quartararo to top a qualifying session this year. The Ducati pilot will now hope to convert it into his 10th Sprint win and seventh Grand Prix victory, too.
A late hurrah saw Marquez clinch pole for the German GP by 0.151 seconds over LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco with a 1:27.811 lap time. Quartararo would only put his Yamaha YZR-M1 seventh on the grid with a 1:29.250, with Yamaha the sole manufacturer outside the top six.
Ducati had three of their bikes rank in the top six places during qualifying for the German GP thanks to Marquez on pole, VR46’s Franco Morbidelli in P4 and Gresini’s Alex Marquez in P6. Marco Bezzechi in P3 and Pedro Acosta in P5 ensured that Aprilia and KTM qualified highly.
Michael Laverty hails Marc Marquez’s genius move to score German GP pole position
Quartararo might be kicking himself after qualifying for the German GP that the Frenchman did not copy the genius move that Marquez and Zarco made to secure the top two spots on the grid on Saturday. Michael Laverty was full of praise for the Ducati and LCR duo after Q2.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
Laverty believes Marquez and Zarco made the ‘right move’ by hitting the Sachsenring early and continuing to lap the Saxony circuit throughout the session. Quartararo, in contrast, hit the pit lane with five minutes to run after lapping 2.214s off Marquez’s chart-topping time.
Laverty said on TNT Sports 2 (12/7, 10:34): “[Marquez was] so strong. He chose the soft rear and continued to circulate, Zarco likewise.
“When the rain fell, the right move, as both these riders did, was to continue to circulate, be on track and be fast in the best moment, which was those last dying seconds of the session.
“I was hoping Zarco was going to pull out a tenth of a second. But in the final section, Marc just nailed it once again. You’ve got to say, he’s so good around here. But in these conditions, when the rain was falling, he just continued to push the envelope.”
Fabio Quartararo may feel he made the ‘right move’ by pitting after his Q2 improvement
Quartararo returned to the pit lane with five minutes of Q2 remaining, having only managed to post a 1:30.297 compared to the 1:28.083 that Marquez had penned to lead the way. But while Laverty thinks the latter made the ‘right move’, pitting did help Quartararo to improve.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Fabio Quartararo from net worth to career stats
His brief trip back to the Yamaha garage preceded Quartararo improving his best lap time to a 1:29.250 by the end of Q2. While the 26-year-old was still 1.439s off Marquez’s time, that improvement was more than the Ducati rider achieved at the close of Q2 having stayed out.
Cutting his lap time by 1.047 seconds also ensured Quartararo qualified P7 for the German GP. His time before pitting would have left him 11th on the grid, and Quartararo clearly did not feel confident he would have improved his pace without returning to the Yamaha box.
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