Marquez takes MotoGP pole in Germany as Lorenzo crashes twice - MotorSportsTalk

Marc Marquez stormed to his fourth pole position of the 2016 MotoGP season during qualifying for the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring on Saturday as rival Jorge Lorenzo suffered two falls.

Championship leader Marquez produced a fastest lap of 1:21.160 in the final stage of qualifying to finish four-tenths clear of the field, his rivals struggling to get close.

“Happy with this pole because FP4 was not the best [session] of the weekend,” Honda rider Marquez told BT Sport after the session.

“The feeling with the bike was not so god. But we made a small modification for qualy. We did quite a step, and we will see tomorrow, because the weather looks quite unstable. Valentino [Rossi] will be really strong.

Hector Barbera picked up a surprising second-place finish in Q2 on his satellite Ducati bike, beating Valentino Rossi in third place.

Rossi led Yamaha’s charge after three-time world champion teammate Lorenzo suffered two falls in qualifying, leaving himself 12th on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Lorenzo was fortunate to make it through to the final stage of qualifying after crashing at the end of Q1. A poor showing in final practice left Lorenzo to fight for a place in Q2, only to make an error on his final hot lap. Nearest-rival Cal Crutchlow finished 0.05 seconds shy of Lorenzo’s time, meaning that the Spaniard got away with his error.

Lorenzo was not so fortunate the second time around. During his final Q2 run, Lorenzo slid off the track at the first corner on the spare bike, bringing his session to an early end.

Like Lorenzo, Danilo Petrucci had to fight his way through Q1, but excelled in Q2 by finishing fourth and setting an identical time to Rossi. Pol Espargaro finished fifth ahead of future Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales.

Andrea Dovizioso qualified seventh for Ducati ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone, while Dani Pedrosa rounded out the top 10 on the second factory Honda.

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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17^th after qualifying 14^th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)