MotoGP | Czech GP | Qualifying: Johann Zarco surprises everyone conquering pole position
An astonishing Johann Zarco brings his satellite Reale Avintia Ducati to Heaven as he conquers pole position ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli in a qualifying full of twists
Who would ever expected that? Johann Zarco snatched a pole position with is Reale Avintia Ducati at the end of a thrilling qualifying where we saw a lot of surprises starting from the first session where some top riders missed the access to Q2
The first big surprise of the day was indeed Andrea Dovizioso out of Q2 as 2019 runner-up struggled a lot during the first session of qualifying where he was never able to be fast enough for an access at the last session of qualifying.
Ducati Factory rider will have to start from 20th and he is called to a really hard weekend. A bad Q1 for Jack Miller as well as Pramac Ducati guy missed the access too finishing in P4 with the Australian forced to start from 14th on the grid.
Alex Rins despite the pain did a good job getting a Q2 access, while behind him we had a thrilling finale for the second spot. Takaaki Nakagami was indeed fast enough to jump ahead, but went over track limits at turn 12 and saw his lap time deleted.
It was Brad Binder so who made it through with the KTM rider who brought the Austrian manufacturer to a really good Q2 joining his teammate Pol Espargaro.
1 | 42 | Alex RINS | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 309.4 | 1'56.230 | |
2 | 33 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 310.3 | 1'56.291 | 0.061 / 0.061 |
3 | 88 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 309.4 | 1'56.328 | 0.098 / 0.037 |
4 | 43 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 312.1 | 1'56.352 | 0.122 / 0.024 |
5 | 53 | Tito RABAT | SPA | Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | 311.2 | 1'56.695 | 0.465 / 0.343 |
6 | 27 | Iker LECUONA | SPA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | 310.3 | 1'56.764 | 0.534 / 0.069 |
7 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | 308.5 | 1'56.822 | 0.592 / 0.058 |
8 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 314.8 | 1'57.034 | 0.804 / 0.212 |
9 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 307.6 | 1'57.438 | 1.208 / 0.404 |
10 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 313.0 | 1'57.573 | 1.343 / 0.135 |
11 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 312.1 | 1'57.606 | 1.376 / 0.033 |
Pol Espargaro made an astonishing Q2 bringing his KTM to the first row, but during his lap time he exceeded track limits and as happened to Nakagami, the Spaniard had his crono canceled. Previous Pol’s lap was still a good one and the younger Espargaro will start from 6th on the grid.
Anyway, the biggest surprise was Johann Zarco, with the Frenchman from Reale Avintia Ducati who made a superb lap taking benefit from every single strong point of his bike. A remarkable result for him conserving he is running a Satellite Ducati, with Zarco who could try to shine on Sunday as well.
A big day for France as Fabio Quartararo finished 2nd despite a crash. This time, Petronas Yamaha rider could not achieve another pole position, but surely will not be too disappointed with another first row, alongside his teammate Franco Morbidelli, who will have a big change tomorrow.
Super result for Aleix Espargaro as well as his Aprilia will start from 4th on the grid ahead of Maverick Vinales. The Spaniard from Yamaha probably made a strategy mistake as he was not able to make a fast lap during his last run.
7th is Brad Binder, followed by Danilo Petrucci and Joan Mir, while Valentino Rossi ended in 10th ahead of Alex Rins and Cal Crutchlow. The Briton while he was engaged on a fast lap made a mistake and crashed, being forced to start from 12th.
1 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | 315.7 | 1'55.687 | |
2 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 305.9 | 1'55.990 | 0.303 / 0.303 |
3 | 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | ITA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 308.5 | 1'55.998 | 0.311 / 0.008 |
4 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 312.1 | 1'56.074 | 0.387 / 0.076 |
5 | 12 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 306.8 | 1'56.131 | 0.444 / 0.057 |
6 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 314.8 | 1'56.142 | 0.455 / 0.011 |
7 | 33 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 313.9 | 1'56.299 | 0.612 / 0.157 |
8 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 314.8 | 1'56.454 | 0.767 / 0.155 |
9 | 36 | Joan MIR | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 310.3 | 1'56.512 | 0.825 / 0.058 |
10 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 307.6 | 1'56.515 | 0.828 / 0.003 |
11 | 42 | Alex RINS | SPA | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | 311.2 | 1'56.571 | 0.884 / 0.056 |
12 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | LCR Honda CASTROL | Honda | 313.9 | 1'56.797 | 1.110 / 0.226 |