Ajo Motorsport rider continues positive weekend at Sachsenring and qualifies second for Sunday’s race.

Johann Zarco will fight to maintain the lead of the Moto2 World Championship in the German Grand Prix tomorrow, starting from the front row of the grid. The French rider, who last year took pole position at Sachsenring, was able to place second in qualifying –just 2 tenths off the top time.

Although Zarco finished sixth in the final free practice session of the weekend, the Ajo Motorsport rider was relatively content with his morning’s work. He spent the entire session experimenting with tyres, in preparation for Sunday’s race. He lowered his best time from Friday by over half a second, clocking a 1:24.999 that was just a tenth away from putting him fastest.

During qualifying, Zarco worked with different tyres throughout the session. Halfway through and with only a fresh rear tyre mounted, the Frenchman pushed hard to claim his best time of 1:24.514 on his eleventh lap. Despite not being able to lower that time, he maintained a good pace that gives him confidence for the race.

Tomorrow’s contest will be the last before a 3 week break. Moto2 World Championship leader Zarco will attempt to go into the summer with a win or a podium that would be his fourth rostrum finish in a row.

Results (Qualifying practice)
1. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 1:24.274
2. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 1:24.514 +0.240
3. Alex Rins (Kalex) 1:24.641 +0.367
4. Simone Corsi (Speed Up) 1:24.680 +0.406
5. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 1:24.731 +0.457

5 JOHANN ZARCO
“It’s like a gift to be here on my birthday, with good weather, a good bike and a good team, so I could not be happier. Besides this, I’m very happy with the pace I was able to set, I feel great with used tyres and this is positive for tomorrow. We will see what the conditions are like, but the race will be about adapting to them and getting the best performance we can. At a small circuit like this, the start will be key; it is important to be in front so as to have moments of lower intensity and get to the end in good shape, because 29 laps can feel long. Obviously I wanted pole position, but second place is not bad. In Moto2 it is very difficult to make changes that give great advantages, but the Ajo Motorsport team and SC Project are doing a great job. It seems that everything is working very well with the new exhaust we have this weekend, and we can still get more performance by studying the data well.”