Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider Marc Márquez clinched the third pole position of his Moto2 career ahead of Sunday’s race at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, chased by Stefan Bradl and Aleix Espargaró.

Championship leader Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) held provisional pole in the first minutes of the qualifying session, but was moved to second when Espargaró (Pons HP 40) took the lead.

Espargaró then dominated the session until Márquez stole provisional pole in the last three minutes, then improved his time to cement the position with a lap time of 1:24.733.

Meanwhile the German rider, who finished ninth in his home Moto2 race last year, improved his time in the last seconds to post a 1:24.862, just 0.038s quicker than Espargaró, moving the Spaniard into third spot on the grid.

With the top 25 riders all within one second of each other, the battles for the second and third row positions was stiff, with Italian rider Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2) landing the leading spot on the second row.

Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) took fifth in a superb return to competition, with Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) completing the second row.

Third row is comprised of Belgian Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B) and Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing), with Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) taking the final spot before a fall at the end of the session.

Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX), Max Neukirchner (MZ Racing) and Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) make up the fourth row, while Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing), who was fastest in the morning session, crashed in the qualifying session but was able to re-enter and qualify 13th.

Maverick Viñales will head the 125 grid after securing his third pole position of the season, with Héctor Faubel and Luis Salom joining the 16-year-old on the front row.

Viñales entered the qualifying session all guns blazing, jumping to the top of the pile ahead of Faubel, who had topped the times at the start.

Faubel responded to the youngster’s challenge to regain the lead at the halfway point and appeared capable of taking the pole until a high speed run off on his fast lap had him running through the gravel at the end of QP, handing the top spot to the Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team rider who set a time of 1:27.477.

Faubel’s best lap of 1:27.808 set before his run off was enough to secure him the second spot on the grid, with Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) 0.057s behind him in third.

Nicolas Terol (Bankia Aspar), who was fastest in the previous three practice sessions though has never had a podium at the Sachsenring circuit, posted the fourth fastest time with a 1:27.992.

Sergio Gadea (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) began the session with rear suspension problems, but he emerged later in the session to post a time that put him on the second row for the start of the race.

Last year’s sixth place finisher Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) took the last spot on the second row with a best lap of 1:28.178.

Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), heads the third row, joined by Alberto Moncayo (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) and German rider Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport).

Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), Miguel Oliveira (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) and Adrián Martín (Bankia Aspar) make up the fourth row.

German rider Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany), who had run in the top ten all weekend crashed at the end of qualifying session, his earlier set best lap time leaving him in 15th position, just ahead of Danny Webb (Mahindra Racing) in 16th.