Czech MotoGP 2019: Marc Marquez wins

The amazing Marquez show continued at Brno, where Repsol Honda star Marc claimed a sixth win in ten races. With just one non-finish with a crash in Texas, Marquez has not finished lower than second so far – and today’s start to finish win by an eventual 2.452 seconds over Andrea Dovizioso extended his points lead over the Italian to a comfortable cushion of 63 points.

Weather struck the track on Saturday, leaving all riders short of set-up time and giving Marquez the chance to claim a blistering pole by some 2.5 seconds, with a high-risk run on slick tyres on a damp track. Today, confounding dry-weather forecasts, more showers hit the sweeping 5.403-km Brno circuit during the lunch break, forcing the start of the premier-class race to be delayed by 40 minutes to allow the patchily wet track to dry, and with race distance cut by a lap from 21 to 20.

 

Marquez led from the first corner to the last, closely pursued the first half by Dovizioso, Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki) and second qualifier Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati). After that, it was time to push. Marquez survived a scare at the bottom corner but was soon drawing away remorselessly. Dovizioso was safe in second; but Rins was struggling with wheelspin at the end, giving the determined Miller the chance for a late attack, to claim his second podium of the season.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) came through from 11th on the grid for fifth. His last victim had been Valentino Rossi (Monster Yamaha), who was three seconds ahead of star rookie Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha). Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) was ninth; Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) still close in tenth, managing to fend off a charging Maverick Vinales (Monster Yamaha), who had finished the first lap 15th after a dismal start from the third row.

Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM), who had given the Austrian marque its first front row in wet practice dropped to a distant 14th in the dry race. Marquez now has 210 points – an average of 21 out of a possible maximum of 25; then Dovizioso 147, Petrucci 129, Rins 114 and Vinales 91.

Czech MotoGP 2018: Andrea Dovizioso wins at Brno

Andrea Dovizioso withstood a three-bike scrap to claim victory in a thrilling Czech Republic Grand Prix. Dovizioso fought off teammate Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez to win in his 100th race for Ducati, his first victory since the season-opener in Qatar five months ago.

Valentino Rossi pipped Cal Crutchlow for fourth place, with Danilo Petrucci, Johann Zarco, Dani Pedrosa, Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Iannone completing the top 10. Jack Miller worked his way up to 12th place at the finish, his healthy race pace unable to overcome a lowly grid position after crashing at a crucial phase of qualifying.

Rossi took a rare holeshot to lead the field into Turn 1 before the pole-winning Ducati blasted back past a few corners later. The field had already been trimmed by three by that point. A crash at the back into Turn 3 ended Maverick Vinales’ tough weekend, with Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith also in the gravel. The latter’s crash ended a dismal day for KTM, who’d already lost Pol Espargaro to a broken collarbone after a crash in the warm-up.

Marquez extended his lead despite finishing third, his margin at the top of the standings now 49 points over Rossi, with Dovizioso now third a further 19 points adrift. The championship heads to the Red Bull Ring next weekend for the Grand Prix of Austria.

MotoGP 2017: Grand Prix of Czech Republic

A tactical masterstroke from Honda helped Marc Marquez to an emphatic victory in the MotoGP Czech Republic Grand Prix in Brno. On a wet track, Marquez was brought into the pits early to put on a softer tyre compound, and he was able to make massive gains on the rest of the field. Eventually he finished 12 seconds clear of team mate Dani Pedrosa in second place with Yamaha Maverick Vinales taking third.

The victory may prove vital in what has been a tight MotoGP season, with Marquez extending his lead to 14 points over Vinales in the race for the world championship; just 10 points had separated the top four in the standings heading into the battle at Brno. After a strong getaway from pole position, Marquez was overhauled by Jorge Lorenzo and found himself slipping back down the field in the early stages. He was clearly uncomfortable on the wet tyres.

Marquez was able to scythe through the field, who were toiling on the wet compound, and back to the head of the pack. As relayed by journalist Simon Patterson, the three-time world champion had quickly established a massive lead over every other rider. It meant that after a frantic beginning to the day; quickly the race looked to be over at the front, with Scott Redding falling back into the pack. In another boost for Honda, Marquez's team-mate, Pedrosa, moved into second spot.

When he started to pull clear of third place, the afternoon was beginning to look routine for the two Honda riders. Marquez, in particular, would have been pleased to see his title rivals—Vinales, Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso—out of the podium places. Indeed, it was Rossi who made for the most exciting viewing late in the race, with Marquez, Pedrosa and Vinales almost in a procession on their way to the finish line.

MotoGP 2016: Grand Prix of Czech Republic

Cal Crutchlow became Great Britain’s first premier class winner since Barry Sheene 35 years ago as the LCR Honda rider clinched his maiden MotoGP triumph at Brno in the Czech Republic. On a wet track, Crutchlow 15^th in the early stages, gambled with hard tyres front and rear and it proved a masterstroke as the 30 year old began to scythe his way through the field.

Rossi, back in 12^th place until he was able to take advantage of his hard rear, finished 7.2 seconds behind Crutchlow at the end as the nine-time world champion moved ahead of team-mate Jorge Lorenzo in the championship standings. Lorenzo, who was back on the rostrum in the previous round in Austria, was one of the few riders who came into pit lane to change bikes.

Title leader Marc Marquez finished on the rostrum in third on the Repsol Honda with another resilient performance to keep any damage to his championship advantage to minimum, with Rossi only closing the deficit by four points. Behind the top three, French rider Loris Baz also stormed through at the end to nick fourth place on the Avintia Ducati ahead of team-mate Hector Barbera.

 Northern Ireland’s Eugene Laverty rode an excellent race to finish sixth on the Aspar Ducati ahead of Danilo Petrucci while Austrian GP winner Andrea Iannone somehow limped over the line in eighth. Marc Marquez is still at first place with 197 points, followed by Valentino Rossi with 144 points, followed by Jorge Lorenzo with 138 points.