Francesco Bagnaia emerged as the surprise pole-sitter for the Czech Republic MotoGP at Brno after advancing from Qualifying 1 and ending the recent pole streak held by Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo.
Bagnaia had no recorded lap time early in Q2 but returned to the track and delivered a lap 0.2 seconds quicker than team-mate Marquez. Marquez looked set to respond but crashed in the final sector of his last lap. Just moments earlier, Johann Zarco had also fallen at Turn 13. The incident will be reviewed by FIM Stewards, but replays confirmed no yellow flags were shown for Zarco’s crash, meaning Marquez is unlikely to face any penalties.
Quartararo, riding for Yamaha, qualified third but later stated he was held up during his run.
Marco Bezzecchi of Aprilia triggered yellow flags after going off at Turn 1, leaving only a single clear lap for riders to challenge Bagnaia’s time. Marquez was on a strong lap before his fall, while Jack Miller also went down seconds later, making it three crashes in quick succession.
Bezzecchi, Honda’s Joan Mir, and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez will line up on row two. KTM’s Pedro Acosta, title contender Alex Marquez, and Zarco complete row three. Miller secured tenth, with Tech3 KTM’s Enea Bastianini in eleventh. Jorge Martin, back from injury, rounded out the Q2 riders in twelfth for Aprilia.
Bagnaia’s pole comes after a poor 18th-place showing in final practice, but he rebounded strongly to top Q1, moving into Q2 alongside Fernandez. Fabio di Giannantonio and KTM stand-in Pol Espargaro narrowly missed the cut.
Rookie Fermin Aldeguer starts 18th for Gresini Ducati, just ahead of KTM’s 2020 Brno winner Brad Binder, who will begin 19th.
The ten-lap Sprint Race at Brno kicks off at 3pm local time. This marks Brno’s return to the MotoGP calendar for the first time since 2020, with the track freshly resurfaced.
Jorge Martin returns to racing with Aprilia after missing nearly the entire season due to injury. Maverick Vinales is absent following a qualifying crash in Germany and is replaced at Tech3 by KTM test rider Pol Espargaro. Enea Bastianini is back after missing the German round due to food poisoning.
LCR’s Somkiat Chantra is still sidelined post-knee surgery and is replaced by HRC test rider Takaaki Nakagami. Franco Morbidelli is also out due to a shoulder injury sustained in the wet Sprint race at the Sachsenring.
Augusto Fernandez is participating as a Yamaha wild-card entry. He, along with Luca Marini, Miguel Oliveira, and Alex Rins, recently took part in a private test at Brno in preparation for the final round before the summer break.
