San Francisco Frontiers - Marc Marquez still 'King of the Ring' after winning Sprint at German MotoGP

The 33-year-old Ducati rider, whose impressive record at the track has furnished him with the nickname 'King of the Ring', went from pole to flag to claim the win ahead of his brother Alex Marquez, 30, on a Ducati-Gresini.

"Alex pushed very hard, he was very close in the last few laps," said the winner.

"I tried to maintain a steady pace and I knew he was going to catch up with me.

"We'll see if we can repeat this in the Grand Prix tomorrow (Sunday)."

Italian rider Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati-VR46) came third, followed by the Aprilia-Trackhouse duo of Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez.

Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia) was sixth and moved 11 points ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, who did not start after breaking his collarbone in a heavy fall, an injury which will keep him out of Sunday's race.

Marc Marquez, who claimed his 19th Sprint victory, an all-time record, is fifth overall. He clawed back eight points from Martin, who leads him by 32 points.

On Sunday in the 11th round of the 22-race season, the Catalan will be aiming for a 13th victory on the German circuit, his 10th in MotoGP.

Victory would equal two records held by Italian legend Giacomo Agostini: most wins at a single event (13) and most victories at the same circuit in the premier class (10).

The morning qualifying session was marred by the crash that ruled Aprilia's Bezzecchi out of the weekend action.

Two weeks after crashing at nearly 200 km/h (120 mph) in the Netherlands without suffering any injuries, the Italian this time lost his back wheel at over 130 km/h and was thrown over his handlebars before bouncing several times in the gravel.

Bezzecchi, who had set the eighth-fastest time before crashing, broke his left collarbone, his team announced.

The 27-year-old will return to Italy for surgery.

S.Jackson--SFF