Marc Marquez claims pole at Germany MotoGP, Bezzecchi breaks collarbone

Marc Marquez secured pole position for the Germany MotoGP after the Spaniard set the fastest time on his Ducati in qualifying at the Sachsenring on Saturday, but Marco Bezzecchi will miss the rest of the weekend after breaking his collarbone following a heavy fall.

Marquez, the reigning world champion, will start from pole for the ninth time in the premier class at the German circuit, becoming the first rider in history to achieve this feat.

He booked his place at the front of the grid with a new all-time lap record of 1min 19.041sec.

Nicknamed 'The King of the Ring', the 33-year-old Catalan will be aiming on Sunday for a 13th victory on the German circuit, his 10th in MotoGP.

"Front row was the target but pole position and especially the lap record here in Sachsenring... is something really good," Marc Marquez said.

Victory in the Grand Prix this weekend would see him equal two records held by Italian legend Giacomo Agostini: most wins at a single event (13) and most victories at the same circuit in the premier class (10).

Marc Marquez finished ahead of his brother Alex Marquez, riding for the Ducati satellite team Gresini, and Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio for the VR46 outfit owned by Italian MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi.

"I was upset in the moment to not get the pole," Alex Marquez said of his initial reaction to seeing he had come second in qualifying. 

"But happy to see Marc and me again at the top," the 30-year-old added.

Spaniard Raul Fernandez of Aprilia-Trackhouse took fourth place, ahead of his Japanese team-mate Ai Ogura and France's Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha.

The session was marred by another heavy crash involving Aprilia's Bezzecchi. 

Two weeks after crashing at nearly 200 km/h (120 mph) in the Netherlands without suffering any injuries, the Italian this time lost his back wheel at over 130 km/h and was thrown over his handlebars before bouncing several times in the gravel.

Second in the championship, Bezzecchi, who had set the eighth-fastest time before crashing, broke his left collarbone in the fall, his team announced.

The 27-year-old will return to Italy for surgery.

It was a morning to forget for Aprilia, with their championship leader, Spaniard Jorge Martin, only managing the ninth-fastest time in qualifying.

nb/nf/pi

© Agence France-Presse