German MotoGP: Quartararo tops FP3, Vinales to Q1
Fabio Quartararo topped a tight FP3 ahead of the MotoGP German Grand Prix as a crash for Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales has dropped him into Q1 in qualifying.


Overall lap time improvements were few and far between for much of the first half hour of FP3, with Honda’s Marc Marquez the most significant mover in the early stages.
Marquez elected against a soft tyre time attack at the end of FP2 having not felt strong enough to take profit of the added grip, which left him in 12th on the Friday times.
Straight away in FP3 Marquez went out on a fresh soft rear tyre and set the benchmark time on the individual session timesheet of 1m21.097s, which was good enough to vault him to fifth on the combined order.
Marquez’s lap kept him top in FP3 until the final 15 minutes when Ducati’s Jack Miller began lighting up the timesheets.
The Australian produced a 1m20.526s to go fastest overall, though this came immediately under threat from Quartararo on the factory Yamaha.
Quartararo edged closer to the all-time Sachsenring lap record with a 1m20.348s with just over 12 minutes remaining, leading the field by 0.149 seconds at this stage.
Disaster struck the other side of the Yamaha garage a few moments later when Quartararo’s team-mate Vinales crashed at Turn 1, the Spaniard on the cusp of dropping out of the Q2 places in 10th.
Suzuki’s Joan Mir piled the pressure on Vinales in the final four minutes with a lap good enough for eighth, dropping the Yamaha rider down to 11th as he returned to the circuit on his second bike.
Vinales couldn’t rally in the latter stages and was only 13th at the chequered flag, dropping him into a Q1 session which is set to be a volatile battle.
World champion Joan Mir missed the Q2 cut by 0.025s on his Suzuki, with team-mate Alex Rins only 14th behind Vinales and Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli.
Quartararo held onto top spot with his 1m20.348s, with Miller second on the Ducati 0.056s adrift in second ahead of Pramac’s Johann Zarco.
Friday pacesetter Miguel Oliveira is the only KTM in Q2 presently after ending FP3 fourth ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Pramac rookie Jorge Martin.
Takaaki Nakagami was the leading Honda runner in seventh on his LCR RC213V, with the final direct Q2 places sealed by Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia and the Marquez brothers – Marc leading Alex in ninth and 10th.
A late crash for Pol Espargaro – his third of the weekend – left him in Q1 and 19th on the other works Honda, the Spaniard trailing KTM’s Brad Binder as he struggles to understand the Sachsenring on a MotoGP bike.
Avintia’s Enea Bastianini fell at the start of the session at Turn 1 as 21st in the end ahead of Tech3’s Iker Lecuona, with just 1.2s covering the 22-rider field in FP3.
Read Also:
Related video

MotoGP German Grand Prix qualifying - Start time, how to watch
Suzuki: Rins doing "what we asked of him" amid crash run

Latest news
Third-generation McRae to tackle Junior European Rally Championship
Max McRae will make the next step in his fledgling rallying career by taking on the Junior class in the European Rally Championship this season.
Kvyat and Bortolotti join Prema's expanded WEC line-up for 2023
Ex-Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat and factory Lamborghini racer Mirko Bortolotti have been named as part of Prema’s two-car line-up for the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
How Driver’s Eye camera became a Formula 1 TV gamechanger
Formula 1 broadcasting has undergone many major advancements in the past decade in a push to better inform fans and enrich their viewing experience.
Hazelwood reflects on maiden Gen3 test
Todd Hazelwood has walked away from a highly-scrutinised first team Gen3 test excited by the latest generation of Supercars hardware.
The other Suzuki signing that could transform Honda's MotoGP form
Following Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP, both of its former riders have landed at Honda for 2023. But perhaps its biggest signing from the now-defunct team could instead be a highly-rated technical manager. Is Ken Kawauchi the right man at the right time to steer HRC back to glory?
How the MotoGP paddock has offered refuge to Suzuki's former team
Suzuki's unexpected departure left more than 40 professionals virtually jobless for the 2023 MotoGP season. But that human drama has been successfully corrected by the paddock itself, with most former Suzuki crew members absorbed into other operations.
How one MotoGP team went from title challengers to losing it all in four years
The Petronas Sepang Racing Team came into MotoGP with a bang in 2019 as regular front-runners, with wonder rookie Fabio Quartararo mounting a title challenge in 2020. But it all went wrong for the Razlan Razali-helmed squad as the team changed hands and tumbled down the order - and RNF Racing plans to right this in 2023
Is Marc Marquez ready to reclaim his MotoGP throne?
Marc Marquez’s sixth premier MotoGP title seems a long time ago given the injury woes he has faced in the three years since. At the end of a fraught 2022, in which he had a fourth major operation on his right arm, the Spaniard speaks exclusively to Motorsport.com.
How MotoGP's underachiever is working to reverse its fortunes in 2023
As European manufacturers emerged as the strongest force in 2022 in a changing of the guard for MotoGP, one powerhouse couldn’t quite match the feats of Ducati and Aprilia. Its motorsport chief tells Motorsport.com why this is and what it is doing to become a consistent frontrunner in the class of kings
How MotoGP riders are preparing for the physical stress of sprint races
With the expansion of the calendar to 21 grands prix and the introduction of sprint races, the 2023 MotoGP season will take the riders to almost 1,300 kilometres of more competition than this year, a factor that forces adjustments in their physical preparations.
Luca Marini: Why he's more than just Valentino Rossi's brother
Surname pressure is something many have had to deal with in their motorsport careers. And while Luca Marini doesn’t have that, his familial relation and the team he rides for in MotoGP have cast a brighter spotlight on his progress. But, as he has shown in 2022 – and as he reveals to Motorsport.com – Marini is so much more than just the brother of a legend.
Ranking the top 10 MotoGP riders of 2022
The 2022 MotoGP season was another hotly contested championship, with Francesco Bagnaia emerging as the title winner after the campaign went to the wire. Motorsport.com picks out the 10 best performers of the season
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.