Marquez Still The Man To Beat Ahead of Qualifying

Jul 11, 2015
2 min read

Marc Marquez continues to dominate proceedings at the Sachsenring after topping the third free practice session. The Spaniard posted a fastest time of the weekend with a 1:21.083, which was almost 0.2 quicker than the rest of the field. He is in the best shape to take pole position later today.

Movistar Yamaha upped their game this morning having looked a little wayward yesterday. Jorge Lorenzo was 2nd quickest with a 1:21.221, which saw him go top for a moment. Valentino Rossi admitted that the team had work to do for today and clearly something with the set-up was found as the Doctor ended the morning 3rd on the time sheets and just five-hundredths off of his team-mate. Where they stand on race pace remains to be seen, but Marquez is the still the only man to consistently lap in the mid 1:21s, so still work to do for Yamaha in FP4.

Andrea Dovzioso lifted himself out of the doldrums of the QP1 positions and up into 4th. But the Ducati rider was still half a second off of the fastest time and that was despite running the soft rear tyre. Andrea Iannone didn't fair any better and was only 9th. They'll need to find something huge in FP4 to put them in the best shape possible for the race tomorrow.

Bradley Smith completed the top five and is looking very strong on the Tech 3 Yamaha. The Briton was top briefly and was set to go even quicker but had a big wobble exiting the penultimate corner. Don't discount Smith for a front row later today. Team-mate Pol Espargaro seems to be struggling this weekend and only just scraped through into QP2 in 10th.

Aleix Espargaro's session didn't get off to a great start. The Spaniard crashed at turn one on his opening flying lap, an electrical issue the most likely cause. Lucky to get away unscathed, the Spaniard rejoined to go 7th on his number two bike. Maverick Vinales will have to go through QP1.

Scott Redding will be disappointed not to make it into the top ten after displaying a very strong pace so far this weekend. The Marc VDS rider fell to 12th by the chequered flag, and to make matters worse he has to contend with the soft rear shod Vinales and Pramac Ducatis.