Francesco Bagnaia shot to his third pole of the 2022 MotoGP season at Sachsenring, while Fabio Quartararo managed to salvage a front row seat in second. The race will be held at 9am this Sunday (June 19), with ESPN 4 broadcasting.
Francesco Bagnaia shot to his third pole of the 2022 MotoGP season at Sachsenring, while Fabio Quartararo managed to salvage a front row seat in second. The race will be held at 9am this Sunday (June 19), with ESPN 4 broadcasting.
The Italian stamped his authority on the session from the start by clocking 1min20s098s to lead the way at the conclusion of the first few laps, with Ducati again looking like the manufacturer to beat, with teammate Jack Miller and Pramac's Jorge Martin coming in right behind.
Eager to miss any potential yellow flags that might fly during the final minutes, Bagnaia got out early to complete his final two efforts - the 2021 runner-up found improvement in both to finally settle on 1min19s931.
Several riders managed to lap below the Ducati rider in the first section, although his strong pace in the second and third sectors kept him at the top of the standings until the end - giving him his first pole since Le Mans.
Behind him, leader Quartararo managed to shake off his average practice form to snatch second place from Pramac's Johann Zarco. The Yamaha rider was just 0s076 behind Bagnaia.
Zarco was third as the last man to lap within a tenth of a second of Bagnaia, with the Frenchman just edging out Aprilia's Aleix Espargaró for the final front row spot.
Meanwhile, Fabio Di Gianantonio continued his formidable speed from Saturday to complete the top five for the Gresini Ducati after escaping Q1, with the Italian overtaking his teammate Enea Bastianini - who finished only 17th after being eliminated in Q1.
Check out the grid:
| POS | RIDER | COUNTRY | TEAM | TIME/DIFF. | LAP | SPEED |
| 1 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP22) | 1'19.931s | 6/8 | 303k |
| 2 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +0.076s | 7/8 | 300k |
| 3 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Ducati (GP22) | +0.099s | 6/8 | 300k |
| 4 | Aleix Espargaro | ESP | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP) | +0.189s | 6/9 | 302k |
| 5 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Gresini Ducati (GP21)* | +0.197s | 6/9 | 298k |
| 6 | Jack Miller | AUS | Ducati Lenovo (GP22) | +0.219s | 7/8 | 299k |
| 7 | Luca Marini | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) | +0.237s | 7/8 | 298k |
| 8 | Jorge Martin | ESP | Pramac Ducati (GP22) | +0.288s | 7/8 | 298k |
| 9 | Maverick Viñales | ESP | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP) | +0.537s | 7/7 | 303k |
| 10 | Takaaki Nakagami | JAP | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +0.631s | 7/7 | 295k |
| 11 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP21)* | +0.662s | 7/8 | 301k |
| 12 | Joan Mir | ESP | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | +0.801s | 7/10 | 298k |
| Q1: | ||||||
| 13 | Pol Espargaro | ESP | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 1'20.604s | 7/7 | 300k |
| 14 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 1'20.656s | 6/8 | 299k |
| 15 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 1'20.757s | 7/8 | 298k |
| 16 | Alex Marquez | ESP | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 1'20.888s | 3/7 | 298k |
| 17 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Gresini Ducati (GP21) | 1'20.905s | 3/6 | 299k |
| 18 | Stefan Bradl | GER | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 1'20.908s | 7/7 | 296k |
| 19 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | WithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1) | 1'20.965s | 10/10 | 295k |
| 20 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 1'21.02s | 7/8 | 296k |
| 21 | Remy Gardner | AUS | KTM Tech3 (RC16)* | 1'21.089s | 8/8 | 295k |
| 22 | Raul Fernandez | ESP | KTM Tech3 (RC16)* | 1'21.322s | 7/8 | 296k |
| 23 | Darryn Binder | RSA | WithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)* | 1'21.322s | 2/7 | 295k |