Submitted by Zara Daniela on
The heat dial was turned up to the max ahead of the premier class’ qualifying session given the modest gaps throughout practice and the result was a bigger surprise than expected. Fabio Quartararo started the session in his favourite position, at the top of the timesheets, and looked to comfortably continue his fine qualifying run - that is until compatriot Johann Zarco flew past by three tenths of a second. The Avintia rider finally got rewarded for the troublesome 18 months he endured with an excellent pole position in Brno and will headline the Saturday press conference for the first time in two years. Quartararo benefitted from a yellow flag infringement by Pol Espargaro and inherited second place from the Spaniard, making it a French one-two despite a late crash at run 13. Franco Morbidelli joins them on the front row of the grid, only eight thousandths of a second slower than his teammate.
Aleix Espargaro proved once again to be the expert in following the right people at the right time and a tow from Quartararo helped him score a place at the front of the second row. Maverick Vinales fought his Yamaha to climb into fifth on his first run but got his timing wrong and missed out on a second run before running out of fuel. Pol Espargaro dropped to sixth after the penalty for setting his best lap under a yellow flag prompted by Cal Crutchlow’s crash but just about kept the honours for being the top KTM, one place ahead of his teammate. Brad Binder snuck through Q1 and made the best of it to open the third row of the grid, ahead of Danilo Petrucci and Joan Mir.
Valentino Rossi finds himself in familiar company on row four, where he is joined by Q1 leader Alex Rins and the equally convalescent Cal Crutchlow. Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller narrowly missed out on Q2 but the real losers of the first qualifying session were Takaaki Nakagami, whose Q2-worthy time got cancelled for exceeding track limits and dropped him to 17th, and Andrea Dovizioso, whose 18th qualifying position made it a truly bittersweet afternoon for Ducati.
Results:
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 1'55.687 | ||
| 2 | 20 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 1'55.990 | 0.303 | 0.303 |
| 3 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 1'55.998 | 0.311 | 0.008 |
| 4 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'56.074 | 0.387 | 0.076 |
| 5 | 12 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha | 1'56.131 | 0.444 | 0.057 |
| 6 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | 1'56.142 | 0.455 | 0.011 |
| 7 | 33 | Brad Binder | KTM | 1'56.299 | 0.612 | 0.157 |
| 8 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'56.454 | 0.767 | 0.155 |
| 9 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 1'56.512 | 0.825 | 0.058 |
| 10 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'56.515 | 0.828 | 0.003 |
| 11 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'56.571 | 0.884 | 0.056 |
| 12 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'56.797 | 1.110 | 0.226 |
| Q1 Results: | ||||||
| Q2 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1'56.230 | ||
| Q2 | 33 | Brad Binder | KTM | 1'56.291 | 0.061 | 0.061 |
| 13 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | 1'56.328 | 0.098 | 0.037 |
| 14 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'56.352 | 0.122 | 0.024 |
| 15 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati | 1'56.695 | 0.465 | 0.343 |
| 16 | 27 | Iker Lecuona | KTM | 1'56.764 | 0.534 | 0.069 |
| 17 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | 1'56.822 | 0.592 | 0.058 |
| 18 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'57.034 | 0.804 | 0.212 |
| 19 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia | 1'57.438 | 1.208 | 0.404 |
| 20 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Honda | 1'57.573 | 1.343 | 0.135 |
| 21 | 73 | Alex Marquez | Honda | 1'57.606 | 1.376 | 0.033 |
Comments
Wow
Does zarco have the ride height adjuster on his '19?
Wow
Does zarco have the ride height adjuster on his '19?
Two Repsol Hondas dead last.
When is the last time that happened? If ever?
Lots of brilliant unpredictability!
I don't need to run through the above but what a great melting pot of riders and marques (sic) here! A heady mix of European bikes, blended with a real tasty grid. I simply do not subscribe to that well known door and window expert Mr Puig's view (window, view, anybody?) that the race to the title will be lessened without MM93, it could be the most memorable yet. And wouldn't it be nice to see works Hondas in the legendary red, white and blue if the Repsol team continue to hold up the grid at t'other end?!
One interesting feature (I think) I saw was Stefan Bradl sporting an Alpinestars cap in an interview yet wearing Dainese leathers and gloves, couldn't see the boots. Strange. Or is it just me...
Satellite lockout of the
Satellite lockout of the front row! Has that ever happened before?
Très bon
Well done Johann Zarco! If I recall correctly Zarco has had pole at Brno before, in the wet I think. Good skills in low grip conditions. Fast enough when the bench Marc isn't riding at least. So "not a top team" and a rider not favoured in the paddock have a great result, how good is MotoGp? Fabulously unpredictable!
If last year's Ducati is so fast why not Dovi & Miller? I have no answer. Zarco is good at riding the bike he has. Rather than wishing it was perfect & constantly changing settings. Seems to work in qualifying. Hope JZ5 (and the other Ducs) do well in the race.
Bonne chance Johann!
Whoa, did I hear right?
A journalist said during the qualifying press conference that Dovi "had not renewed for 2021" with Ducati. Is this official for 2021 or just an "at the moment" comment?
And very nice to see both of you, David and Neil Morrison.