Marquez grabs ninth straight pole in Germany

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Sachsenring, July 14: Marc Marquez edged a ninth consecutive pole at the German MotoGP as half a second covered the top three at the Sachsenring.

Marquez stretched his lead to 41 points with his victory in Assen last time out and the four-time world champion gave himself a golden opportunity to further extend that advantage on Saturday.

The Repsol Honda rider denied Danilo Petrucci by just 0.025secs, with Jorge Lorenzo qualifying in third spot.

Marquez was third after the first set of flyers, but the Spaniard pipped Petrucci with a blistering final lap of one minute, 20.270 seconds to secure his place at the front of the grid once more.

Petrucci looked to have done enough to thwart Marquez, but the number 93 delivered under pressure, as he has done time and time again.

Maverick Vinales will start Sunday's race in fourth spot, with Andrea Dovizioso also on the second row in fifth and Valentino Rossi sixth.

Marquez told BT Sport: "I said this weekend will be closer than the other ones. When you have good weather everybody can find the best pace and attack.

"I saw Danilo did a really good lap time but we tried to push. The last lap in the first sector I made a little mistake but I said I need to keep pushing and that last 20 milliseconds was enough."

On the third row, former podium finisher at the venue Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) took P7, ahead of practice pacesetter Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and the on-form Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team), with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) rounding out the top ten.

The number 26 has an impeccable record at the track - it's the venue at which he's had most success, along with Valencia - and could be one to watch when the lights go out.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) starts P11 and Q1 graduate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) starts P12, with Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) hot on their heels in thirteenth. Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) and Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) complete the top fifteen on the grid after Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), who just missed out on a place in Q2, received a six-place grid penalty for the race following 'irresponsible riding' in FP3; now starting P19.

(With OPTA/Dorna Sports inputs)