SACHSENRING, Germany: Championship leader Marc Marquez again showed his mastery of the Sachsenring circuit to clock the quickest time in Friday’s practice ahead of Sunday’s German Grand Prix.
The Spaniard, who has won every edition of this race since 2013, ran second behind Frenchman Fabio Quartararo during the morning session but turned things around in the afternoon.
Marquez almost crashed his Honda on his first lap but after coming out of the pits on soft rear tyres, he went on to post a fastest time of 1min 20.705sec.
That left him 0.341 seconds ahead of Suzuki’s Alex Rins who was marginally quicker than a disappointed and disgruntled Quartararo.
The 20-year-old, who took pole in Assen last weekend, was impeded by his own Yamaha teammate Franco Morbidelli as he looked set to improve on Rins’ time.
The final practice session takes place on Saturday morning with qualification in the afternoon.
Free practice times:
1. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 1:20.705
2. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) at 0.341
3. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.360
4. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Yamaha) 0.488
5. Pol Espargaro (ESP/KTM) 0.560
6. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Honda) 0.687
7. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) 0.737
8. Danilo Petrucci (ITA/Ducati) 0.779
9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) 0.784
10.Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) 0.833 - AFP