The Sachsenring welcomed Moto2™ World Championship track action back for the final qualifying session of the 2021 Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, with pole position going to Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who put in a stunning lap in the closing stages of the session to give him an all-new lap record at the Sachsenring in Moto2™. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) will be on the front row in second place whilst Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) secured the final front row slot, which is covered by 0.372s.

THE FIGHT FOR FIRST

Moving up from Q1, Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46), Aron Canet (Aspar Team Moto2) and teammate Albert Arenas, it would become vital that Bezzecchi utilised the track experience in Q1 to his advantage in Q2. As the session got underway, it was Fabio Di Giannantonio however who took the initial honours and led the way aboard his Kalex, whilst Raul Fernandez was lying second and Gardner third.

FAMILIAR NAMES ON THE FRONT ROW

Despite leading the way with three minutes remaining on the clock, ‘Diggia’ wasn’t able to hold on as Raul Fernandez stormed to the head of the grid with a new all-time lap record for Moto2™ at the Sachsenring circuit. A 1’23.397 saw him sail clear by 0.347s at the front, leaving Di Giannantonio in his wake. Despite being fast in the Free Practice sessions, Remy Gardner wasn’t able to top the all-important Q2 session but is most certainly in contention a third consecutive win, starting third – should Gardner win on Sunday afternoon, he’ll become the first Australian to win three consecutive races in the intermediate class in the history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

BEST OF THE REST

Leading off from the second row and doing exactly what he needed to do, Marco Bezzecchi put himself right in contention with a damage limitation performance which saw him finish fourth. Struggling for the whole weekend up to now, Bezzecchi will hope to find more things during Warm-Up on Sunday morning. Still impressing and hardly dropping outside of the top five all weekend, Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) starts from the middle of the second row, whilst Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) clinched sixth, only his third top ten of the year, but his second top ten in three events.

Seventh place went to Britain’s Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), as the Brit put in a solid performance despite a small crash at Turn 1. He was 0.023s ahead of Japan’s Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), with Bendsneyder graduating from Q1 to take ninth on the grid. Completing the top ten, another Q1 graduate in Aron Canet. Two riders who would have hoped for a considerable amount more were Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) who will start 14th, and local hero Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact GP), who is down in 17th.


Moto2™ Warm-Up ignites the fight on Sunday in the intermediate class at 09:10am local time, with the race at 12:20pm (GMT+2).

Top 10 combined:

1. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1’23.397
2. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) +0.347
3. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +0.372
4. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) +0.787
5. Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) +0.899
6. Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) +0.904
7. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) +1.019
8. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) +1.042
9. Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) +1.077
10. Aron Canet (Aspar Team Moto2) +1.103