Since returning from injury, Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) has only gotten stronger and stronger. The Italian soared through Q1 as the fastest rider, quicker than Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). For the German GP he will line up fourth on the grid, his best ever Qualifying result, thanks to a great performance in Q2. He has visited the second row once before, when he was fifth at the Indianapolis GP in 2015. Petrucci’s 1’21.666 had the potential to place him third on the grid, his time identical to that of Valentino Rossi’s (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). In situations such as these the advantage is given to the rider with the second fastest lap time which in this case was Rossi. Petrucci wasn’t too upset as Rossi had given him a tow around the 3.7km long circuit earlier in the day.
Danilo Petrucci: “It is a great result even if I would like to be the first Independent. Then when I got back to the garage I discovered I had the same time as Valentino. It was a shame because it was my first front row. But it is also true that this morning Valentino gave me a little driving school, so all things considered it is ok. The bike is working well. I hope that tomorrow will be a dry race. I hope to stay a few laps with the front group and are very confident for the race pace.”