Sasaki stays top as rain arrives at the Sachsenring

Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) will head into qualifying day as the rider to beat after heavy rain in the afternoon saw no riders improve their times from Friday morning at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) end Friday in second and third place respectively.

It was Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) who led the way in the wet Practice 2 conditions after Scott Ogden’s (VisionTrack Racing Team) Turn 8 crash briefly brought out the red flags in the afternoon due to the Brit’s Honda damaging the air fence. Ogden, who walked away from the crash, headed to the medical centre for a check-up.

Then, heading into the closing stages, Öncü suffered a big crash at the rapid Turn 11 right-hander. The Turkish star was up on his feet but looked in some discomfort when holding his right arm, he too headed to the medical centre for a check-up. A thumbs up heading back to the box suggests the Mugello podium finisher is raring to go tomorrow morning. 

However, it’s the dry times that are counting towards the provisional Q2 places, and ahead of Practice 3, it’s Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) and Ryusei Yamanaka (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar M3) sitting inside the top five. World Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was sixth in Practice 1 ahead of Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team), Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Bertelle.

Make sure you tune into Moto3™ P3 at 08:40 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday morning to see who will head straight into Q2. 

Combined top 10:
1. Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) – 1:25.840
2. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.249
3. Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) + 0.567
4. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) + 0.833
5. Ryusei Yamanaka (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar M3) + 1.001
6. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 1.003
7. Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 1.228
8. Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) + 1.280
9. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 1.402
10. Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) + 1.432

FULL RESULTS!