MotoGP World Championship leader Marc Marquez needed to break the outright circuit record to hold off the wounded Fabio Quartararo for a tenth consecutive pole position at the Sachsenring.

The first man out the pit, Marquez looked to lay a marker down from the off and he did so, being the fastest man through the first run of laps with a 1:20.5. Behind Marquez it was Alex Rins and Quartararo who looked closest albeit a couple of tenths back.

Marquez looked as if he was going to improve on his next lap, however the Spaniard came for his second bike, as he used the two-stop strategy. On his second bike, Marquez went even faster, breaking his outright lap record from 2018 en-route.

Behind him it was Jack Miller who was now the closest challenger, albeit half a second behind the Repsol Honda man.

Once again Marquez came into the pits, ready for his third and final run. After spotting Vinales in pit lane, Marquez slowed to a walking pace in order to come out behind the Assen winner, with Rins and Quartararo behind those two, leaving a four man shoot out for pole position.

All three of Vinales, Rins and then Quartararo had red sectors, however nobody could match Marquez, with the World Champion improving his best time even further, eventually ending with a lap record of 1:20.195.

Quartararo was the closest man to Marquez, although 0.205 seconds behind Marquez for his third consecutive front row start. Vinales was just 0.006 seconds behind his Yamaha stablemate to round out the front row. Rins was just a further 0.125 seconds behind Vinales in fourth place.

Miller held on for fifth place in the middle of the front row, with Cal Crutchlow fighting through the pain to secure a start on the outside of the front row.

Franco Morbidelli will head the third row in seventh place, with Pol Espargaro and Joan Mir joining the Italian in eighth and ninth on their respective factory machines.

Star of qualifying is without doubt Taka Nakagami. Still really feeling the consequences of being taken out by Valentino Rossi in Assen, and unable to walk without the aid of crutches. Nakagami fought through the ankle pain to produce a stunning late lap pushed Andrea Dovizioso out of Q2 in the dying embers of Q1, the Japanese rider beat out both Rossi and Danilo Petrucci – who had a session to forget, after being held up by Joan Mir to a nasty crash which has seen him end up in the medical centre – to tenth place.