VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio emerged as the surprise pacesetter at the end of Friday practice for the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.
Marc Marquez, noted for his historical dominance at the venue, was fastest by a long way in the opening session and led again early in FP2 - but it was clear his rivals had made inroads on his lead.
And with Marquez electing not to use as many soft rear tyres as his rivals in the final minutes of the session, he was first overhauled by his brother Alex Marquez - seemingly suffering no ill effects from his hand fracture at Assen - and then by Di Giannantonio.
The latter's 1m19.071s was enough to top the session by three tenths - and stands as the best-ever MotoGP lap of the circuit.
🙌 @fabiodiggia49 and @VR46RacingTeam are buzzing after that one #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/ODU7T3mhUn
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 11, 2025
Fabio Quartararo was a superb fourth for Yamaha, followed by KTM standout Pedro Acosta in fifth.
Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati), Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha), Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Brad Binder (KTM) completed the all-important top 10, all securing their places in Q2 tomorrow.
Advancing to Q2: Di Giannantonio, A Marquez, M Marquez, Quartararo, Acosta, Morbidelli, Bezzecchi, Miller, Bagnaia, Binder
Will contest Q1: Vinales, Zarco, Ogura, R Fernandez, Mir, Aldeguer, Oliveira, Marini, Rins, Savadori
Maverick Vinales was 11th-fastest, half a tenth away from a Q1 spot. His final lap was compromised by yellow flags at the final corner for Fermin Aldeguer's second crash of the session, though the laptime would have anyway been right on the edge of the top 10.
Late crashes for @Aldeguer54 and @JohannZarco1 👀#GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/i6fjUtQ77p
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 11, 2025
Aldeguer's first crash was notable, too, because while the crash itself was a quick tip-off at Turn 1, after which he quickly got back on the bike, it also featured Marc Marquez going into the gravel at the same corner - though many metres back - a few seconds later.
That happened under yellow flag conditions, though it was not legally a crash and thus there isn't really a precedent for Marquez to be sanctioned.
Johann Zarco crashed late on while in pursuit of a Q2 spot but was still the fastest Honda rider in the end.
Returnee Luca Marini was 1.2s off in 18th, but was nearly four tenths up on Yamaha's Alex Rins - who had a difficult session and only narrowly saw off Aprilia tester Lorenzo Savadori.
FP2 results
