Qualifying report
MotoGP Czech GP
Brno MotoGP: Zarco takes shock pole for Avintia Ducati
Johann Zarco took a shock MotoGP pole position for Avintia Ducati at the Czech Grand Prix after a late crash for Fabio Quartararo, while Andrea Dovizioso was only 18th.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Aug 8, 2020, 4:14 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Zarco put the KTM on the front row at Brno one year ago in wet conditions, but a week later had quit the Austrian marque amidst a miserable season on the RC16.
Signed by Ducati to ride for the underfunded Avintia squad on a year-old Ducati, Zarco stunned with his first pole since his Tech 3 days in 2018.
The early part of the session was topped by KTM’s Pol Espargaro with a 1m56.142s, though this was quickly beaten by Quartararo with the best lap of the weekend so far of a 1m55.990s.
Following the Petronas Yamaha rider on that lap, Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro pulled out a surprise lap just 0.084s adrift of Quartararo’s to go second provisionally with eight minutes remaining.
As the clock clicked into the final moment, the timing screen was ablaze with fastest sectors, with Zarco tucked in behind KTM’s Brad Binder.
Continuing to find time as the lap wore on, Zarco produced a 1m55.687s to steal pole away from Quartararo by 0.303 seconds.
Quartararo tried to take the position back, but crashed at the penultimate corner on his final effort and had to settle for second – a position he was promoted to after KTM’s Espargaro had his best lap scrubbed having set it under yellow flags.
It also promoted Franco Morbidelli – who crashed in FP4 - up to the front row on the sister Petronas Yamaha, while Aleix Espargaro scored Aprilia’s best-ever MotoGP qualifying result in fourth.
Maverick Vinales will start from fifth, but was sent out for his final lap too late by Yamaha and couldn’t set another effort.
Pol Espargaro brings up the rear of the second row, with teammate Binder, the next-best Ducati of Danilo Petrucci and Suzuki’s Joan Mir making up row three.
Valentino Rossi was 10th on the second works team Yamaha ahead of Q1 graduate Alex Rins (Suzuki) and LCR’s Cal Crutchlow, who crashed at Turn 9 late on.
LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami was dealt late heartbreak when his 1m56.290s lap was cancelled after he exceeded track limits on the exit of Turn 12 late on in Q1.
The Japanese rider was relegated from a graduation place in second down to seventh in the session, meaning he’ll start 17th.
The biggest shock of the session came in the form of Andrea Dovizioso, who struggled on his factory Ducati and could only muster a 1m57.034s to go just 18th – some eight tenths away from a Q2 place in the worst qualifying performance of his MotoGP career.
Shuffled back by late improvements for Avintia’s Tito Rabat and Tech 3’s Iker Lecuona in 15th and 16th, Dovizioso was only quicker than Aprilia’s Bradley Smith – who crashed at Turn 8 – and the two factory Hondas of Stefan Bradl and Alex Marquez.
Compounding a tough weekend for Pramac following the knee injury for Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller missed the Q2 cut and will start 14th.
Czech GP - Qualifying 2 results (Q2):
Cla Rider Bike Time Gap 1 Johann Zarco
Ducati 1'55.687 2 Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha 1'55.990 0.303 3 Franco Morbidelli
Yamaha 1'55.998 0.311 4 Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia 1'56.074 0.387 5 Maverick Viñales
Yamaha 1'56.131 0.444 6 Pol Espargaro
KTM 1'56.142 0.455 7 Brad Binder
KTM 1'56.299 0.612 8 Danilo Petrucci
Ducati 1'56.454 0.767 9 Joan Mir
Suzuki 1'56.512 0.825 10 Valentino Rossi
Yamaha 1'56.515 0.828 11 Alex Rins
Suzuki 1'56.571 0.884 12 Cal Crutchlow
Honda 1'56.797 1.110 View full results
Q1 results:
Cla Rider Bike Time Gap 1 Alex Rins
Suzuki 1'56.230 2 Brad Binder
KTM 1'56.291 0.061 3 Miguel Oliveira
KTM 1'56.328 0.098 4 Jack Miller
Ducati 1'56.352 0.122 5 Tito Rabat
Ducati 1'56.695 0.465 6 Iker Lecuona
KTM 1'56.764 0.534 7 Takaaki Nakagami
Honda 1'56.822 0.592 8 Andrea Dovizioso
Ducati 1'57.034 0.804 9 Bradley Smith
Aprilia 1'57.438 1.208 10 Stefan Bradl
Honda 1'57.573 1.343 11 Alex Marquez
Honda 1'57.606 1.376 View full results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Brno MotoGP: Morbidelli tops FP3, Dovizioso to Q1
Next article “Pissed off” Espargaro to appeal Brno lap cancellation
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Duncan
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
Latest news
Mercedes: “We had people who hadn’t done a live pitstop for 15 years” in Singapore GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
20 min
Mercedes: “We had people who hadn’t done a live pitstop for 15 years” in Singapore GP
MotoGP to stage demo at F1 United States Grand Prix
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 1 h
MotoGP to stage demo at F1 United States Grand Prix
WRC star Thierry Neuville makes successful historic circuit racing debut
WRC
WRC WRC 2 h
WRC star Thierry Neuville makes successful historic circuit racing debut
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe