Sachsenring MotoGP: Marc Marquez claims Moto2 pole position

Spaniard Marc Marquez will start tomorrow’s German Moto2 Grand Prix at Sachsenring from pole position after a rain-hit qualifying session this afternoon.

Marquez left it late to post a best lap of 1.34.503 to finish 0.045s ahead of compatriot Julian Simon, with Scott Redding’s Marc VDS Racing team-mate Mika Kallio completing the front row.

The Moto2 field managed to avoid the torrential rain that played a key role in the earlier Moto3 and MotoGP session but the surface was still treacherously wet throughout.

Bradley Smith’s Tech 3 Racing team-mate Xavier Simeon looked like he might clinch a career first front row start when he crashed on his final lap after running off track at Turn 8 and he will start from the front of the second row in fourth.

British rider Gino Rea’s wet weather riding skills came to the fore on the Gresini Suter machine.

The Londoner has endured a torrid switch to the ultra-competitive Moto2 class but the rain proved a great leveller today and Rea was fifth quickest with a lap of 1.34.908. That was less than 0.3s away from the front row.

Smith was a disappointing ninth having challenged for the front row for much of the session. But pushing to improve on his best time of 1.35.238, the Oxfordshire rider crashed out unhurt on his Mistral 610 machine.

Redding faces a massive task to keep his impressive run of form in 2012 going.
The Gloucestershire rider is bidding for a third straight podium in tomorrow’s race but he never looked comfortable in perilous conditions and the 19-year-old’s best lap of 1.37.588 left him way down the order in 26th.