On a sunny and hot second day at Brno, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez claimed a stunning pole position for tomorrow’s Czech Grand Prix, his fourth this season and the 69th of his career.

Dani Pedrosa was a close third, a mere 0.046” behind Valentino Rossi in second and just 0.138” off his teammate.

Both Marc and Dani had already displayed a fast pace in the FP3 session, taking P1 and P2 respectively despite suffering a crash each in the early stages, Marc going down at turn 10 because of an oil spill from another rider’s bike and Dani sliding out at turn 8 while pushing hard.

With the weather forecast a bit uncertain for tomorrow’s 2 p.m. race start, both Marc and Dani are confident that they’ll be ready no matter the conditions.

Marc Marquez  93 - POLE POSITION  1'54.981

“I’m very happy with today because I knew that making the pole would be tough, as I normally struggle at this track, but I tried for it anyway. The test we did here was useful. I felt good already with the first tyre, even if I nearly crashed as I was pushing very hard. I tried to ride smoothly but still brake hard. With the second tyre, I gave it all I had and we got this pole. I’m very, very happy. Tomorrow we’ll see what weather conditions we have, as it looks a bit unstable and not as warm. It will be a long, hard race but we should be able to fight for the podium in either the dry or the wet, so we’re looking forward to it and to enjoying the race.”

Dani Pedrosa  26 - 3RD  1'55.119

“I’m happy today because qualifying went well. I usually struggle a bit in qualifying but today I did four good laps and I really enjoyed myself, as I was able to ride as I like. I’m just over one tenth off of Marc, which is very positive as he’s very strong on pole; it was a fantastic job from my team. Now I just look forward to tomorrow. We have to wait and see what the weather will be like, as that will be a key for the race along with the tyre choice. It should be cooler, so we must be very to the point with the tyre choice and be ready for whatever situation we have to deal with.”


Qualifying Classification

1   - MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'54.981
2   - ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.092
3   - PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.138
4   - DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 0.460
5   - CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda Honda 0.508
6   - LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Ducati Team Ducati 0.571
7   - VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.682
8   - PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 0.757
9   - BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati 1.046
10 - ZARCO Johann 5 FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1.094
11 - ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.374
12 - BAZ Loris 76 FRA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 1.643
13 - RINS Alex 42 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1'56.460 Q1
14 - FOLGER Jonas 94 GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'56.540 Q1
15 - MILLER Jack 43 AUS Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'56.543 Q1
16 - BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 1'56.685 Q1
17 - ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team Ducati 1'56.786 Q1
18 - ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1'57.034 Q1
19 - SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1'57.042 Q1
20 - IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1'57.245 Q1
21 - RABAT Tito 53 SPA Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'57.288 Q1
22 - LOWES Sam 22 GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'57.465 Q1
23 - REDDING Scott 45 GBR Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1'57.517 Q1