MotoGP Germany: Ducati steal the show in Qualifying; Bezzecchi crashes, causing concern for Aprilia

Three Desmosedicis lock out the front row, the best RS-GP26s are the Trackhouse ones: Aprilia anxious about Bez.

MotoGP Qualifying for the 2026 German Grand Prix ends with pole position for Marc Marquez, his ninth at the Sachsenring, where he’s the most anticipated rider of the weekend. Best time (record) in 1'19"041, with just 61 thousandths over his brother Alex on the BK8 Gresini Ducati. Also on the front row is Fabio Di Giannantonio’s Pertamina VR46 Desmosedici GP26.

Pecco Bagnaia had significant difficulties on Friday, failing to grab a spot in the pre-qualifying top 10. He said he felt “weaponless” in T2 and T3. Despite trying various solutions to gain more grip, he didn’t get the desired results and returned to his base setup. In this morning’s Q1 he was the best of all right away, taking the top time in 1'19"753.

Along with the Ducati Lenovo rider, Fabio Quartararo also advanced to Q2, a minor miracle from the Yamaha champion, who pipped Joan Mir on the Honda. Luca Marini gave it everything too, competitive in the first three sectors, but then lost a lot in the fourth and went no better than fourth time in the session. Worse for Enea Bastianini, seventh. The KTM Tech3 rider encountered Diogo Moreira ahead of him in his final time attack, and it’s possible the Brazilian will receive another penalty, after the one already handed down (3 places on Sunday’s grid) following pre-qualifying for impeding Marini.

At the start of Q2, a nasty 160 km/h crash for Marco Bezzecchi at turn 7; concern in the Aprilia box, given that the rider from Rimini already arrived in Germany banged up after the Assen incident. Back in the paddock he was holding his left arm and couldn’t get back on the second RS-GP26 to continue MotoGP Qualifying. Updates on his physical condition are awaited after checks at the Medical Center.

The best Aprilia at the Sachsenring is Raul Fernandez’s, fourth and missing the front row by just 5 thousandths. Lining up alongside him will be teammate Ai Ogura and the Yamaha of a fantastic Quartararo. The third row is led by Franco Morbidelli, who can start seventh in the sprint race and will be dropped to tenth in the long race due to a penalty received after Friday’s pre-qualifying. Also on the third row are the Aprilias of Bezzecchi (it remains to be seen if he can race) and Jorge Martin, from whom more was certainly expected. Pedro Acosta (tenth) and Pecco Bagnaia (eleventh) don’t shine either.