SACHSENRING,
Germany —
Francesco Bagnaia continued his domination of the Sachsenring track on Saturday
by taking pole position at the German MotoGP.
اضافة اعلان
Italy’s Bagnaia will start Sunday’s race at
the top of the grid with reigning world champion and current overall leader
Fabio Quartararo of France in second.
This is the third pole position of the season
for Ducati rider Bagnaia, who is fifth overall in the championship standings
and 66 points behind Quartararo.
Bagnaia kept his cool as temperatures
exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade, soaring to 50
degrees on the track.
“We did a great job today in these
conditions, it’s very hot and tomorrow it will be even hotter,” said Bagnaia.
Frenchman
Johann Zarco secured the third spot
at the front of the grid for the 10th MotoGP race of the season.
Less than a tenth of a second separated the
three fastest riders.
“I’m very happy to be on the front row, our
pace is pretty good, the only question is which tire to use, but we are in a
good position,” said Quartararo.
Spain’s Aleix Espargaro, currently second
overall, Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio and Australia’s Jack Miller make up the
grid’s second row.
Bagnaia has been in irresistible form all
weekend and clocked a fastest time of one minute, 19.931 seconds in qualifying
on Saturday.
The Italian set a new track record on Friday,
then took turns with Spain’s Aleix Espargaro lowering it further on Saturday
morning.
“I was surprised to start a weekend like
this, but the good feeling grew from session to session and now I feel very
comfortable,” Bagnaia said.
Before his arrival in Saxony, the Sachsenring
track record had been held by Marc Marquez of Honda, who has won the German
MotoGP every year it has held since 2013.
With the Spaniard sidelined after surgery on
his arm, the absence of the six-time MotoGP world champion opens the door for
Bagnaia.
“It’s good for us that Marc isn’t here this
weekend — it’s one more podium place to take and maybe make history by taking a
win to follow on from him,” joked Bagnaia.
Despite taking part in Friday and Saturday’s
practice sessions, Suzuki rider Alex Rins will sit out the
German MotoGP on
Sunday due to a fractured wrist he suffered earlier this month at the Catalan
MotoGP.
Doctors had given Rins the green light to race at
Sachsenring, but he opted not to ride in Saturday’s final session, his team
said in a statement.
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