Márquez mania on Sprint Saturday at the Sachsenring

• Spanish Ducati rider wins the Tissot Sprint at the German round of MotoGP
• The "King of the Ring" sets a new track record in qualifying
• Singer Yvonne Catterfeld waves the chequered flag
• Moto2 class breaks the 1:22-minute mark for the first time

Hohenstein-Ernstthal. Marc Márquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) reigns supreme at the Sachsenring: the world champion from Spain won the Tissot Sprint on Saturday, finishing just ahead of his brother Álex Márquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team). This was sprint victory number 19 for Márquez and took him out on his own as the record holder in this statistic. Popular singer and actress Yvonne Catterfeld waved the chequered flag at the end of the sprint race.

Márquez's two rivals pursued the 33-year-old for the full 15 laps of the race, at the end of which the gap between first and third was a mere 0.813 seconds. Márquez won the battle at the start, before controlling the action from the head of the field, leaving his brother and Di Giannantonio to settle for second and third place. They were followed home by the two riders from the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team, Ai Ogura (Japan) and Raúl Fernández (Spain). World championship leader Jorge Martín from Spain crossed the finish line in sixth place, which proved sufficient to hold onto top spot in the overall standings.

"Álex obviously put me under real pressure. I could see that he was extremely close the whole time - even in the final few laps. I just tried to set a consistent pace, but even then he was still able to close in on me on the final lap. Let's see how it goes tomorrow. Hopefully, we can control the race better on the medium tyre, and get the same result in the end," said the "King of the Ring".

As early as the morning's qualifying session, the reigning world champion was in dominant form. Márquez claimed pole position for the Tissot Sprint and Sunday's Grand Prix, and with a new track record: the 33-year-old took just 1:19.041 seconds to complete his flying lap of the 3.7-kilometre Sachsenring. His brother Álex and Di Giannantonio also secured a place on the front row of the grid. Martín, from the Aprilia Racing Team, starts in ninth on row three.

Moto2 class breaks the 1:22-minute mark
Iván Ortolá (QJMOTOR – R.O.M.E.A – MSI) was unstoppable in Moto2 on Saturday. The morning's free practice session saw the Spaniard become the very first rider in the middle class to break the 1:22-minute mark at the Sachsenring. In qualifying, he went even faster on his way to securing his first pole position in Moto2: 1:21.493 minutes is the new track record. Second place went to his compatriot Manuel González from German team LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP, ahead of another two Spaniards, Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) and Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Azul Marino Aspar Team). González's Australian team-mate Senna Agius rounded out the top five.

In Moto3, Spain's Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) clinched his maiden pole position with a lap time of 1:24.880 minutes. Starting alongside him on the front row of the grid will be Argentinean Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) and Malaysian Hakim Danish (AEON Credit - MT Helmets - MSI). Spanish world championship leader Máximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) and his compatriot Álvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completed the top five. Qualifying 2 was a typically close affair in the smallest class, with all 18 riders separated by just 0.9 seconds.

A number of tickets are still available for the Liqui Moly Motorcycle Grand Prix of Germany, and can be purchased online at adac.de/motogp, by phone on 03723/8099111, or by E-mail to info@sachsenring-event.de. Admission to the standing areas is free for under 14s when accompanied by a paying adult.