Pedrosa blasts back to the top at Brno

2018-08-04 07:48
The ‘Little Samurai’ returns to the top of the timesheets at a venue that has seen him take 11 podiums

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) has had a tougher start to the season than many but now back to full strength and having announced his retirement at the end of 2018, the number 26 shot back to the top of the timesheets at the Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky on Friday. A 1:55.976 was Pedrosa’s time to beat, taking him over a tenth clear of second placed and top Independent Team rider Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing). Pedrosa has 11 podiums at Brno including two MotoGP™ victories, the most recent of which he took in 2014.

Petrucci’s pace wasn’t the only talking point for the Italian on Friday either. The number 9 Alma Pramac Racing machine sported a new aero fairing – now homologated – which counts as Petrucci’s update for the season, as the updates are counted by rider and not by manufacturer. More updates could be seen to more Borgo Panigale factory machinery elsewhere as well – with Jorge Lorenzo’s fuel tank sporting further modifications.

But behind Pedrosa and another impressive performance from top Ducati Petrucci, the top three was completed by another Independent Team Ducati runner – Alvaro Bautista. After four top tens in a row before the summer break, including a fifth place at the Sachsenring, the Spaniard continued his impressive run on Friday in Czechia to put the Angel Nieto team in P3.

In fourth it was another high-profile performance to impress as Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) leapt up the timesheets late on. The Malaysian was not only top rookie by some margin, he was also top Yamaha – and that after teammate Johann Zarco had also shown some good form in the morning to top FP1. Zarco did also improve his time in the afternoon, nut by only a tenth – leaving him ninth.

Behind Syahrin comes the second factory rider on the timesheets: Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), and the Italian was the first to set a time attack on new tyres in the latter stages of FP2. He led briefly but rounds out the top five by the end of play on Friday – just head of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP pairing Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi. The two Iwata-marque factory riders had differing narratives, however, as Viñales was down the timesheets in the morning before bouncing back to surpass his Italian teammate, and Rossi showed good pace in both FP1 and FP2.

Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) took P8 to just pip Zarco by 0.014 and was another Independent Team Ducati rider to put in an impressive performance, with reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) left to round out the top ten.

Notice some names missing? A host of usual top suspects found themselves out of provisional Q2 graduation on Friday, including former Brno winners Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) in P14 and Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) in P15. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins and Andrea Iannone also missed out in P11 and P12 respectively, and Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) slotted into that top 15 jigsaw in thirteenth.

So after a scorching Day 1 it’s Pedrosa who leads the way as the pack shuffles in Czechia – can he keep that on Saturday? With a stunning record at the venue it could well prove the weekend that sees Pedrosa add to his incredible record of winning a race every year for 16 consecutive years…but it will be far from easy. See if the pack can catch the number 26 in qualifying from 14:10 (GMT +2) on Saturday.
Schrötter stamps some authority on Day 1

Unstoppable: the number 23 topped FP1 and FP2
The German topped both Friday sessions to finish over two tenths ahead of Bagnaia and Pasini

Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) stamped his authority on the Moto2™ grid at the Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky after going quickest in both FP1 and FP2, ending Friday 0.201 ahead of Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) in second, with Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) a further 0.040 back in third place.

The German’s gap at the top was cut from 0.423 after FP1 with Bagnaia climbing up one place to second in the afternoon, but it’s looking good for Schrötter to challenge for a maiden podium or even victory this weekend.

Just behind Pasini – who improved from P6 to P3 in FP2 – was Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) in fourth place, jumping up one position after his fifth place in FP1. The Spaniard is looking strong after his big crash at the Sachsenring, can he challenge for the front row in qualifying? Rounding out the top five on the combined timesheets was Fabio Quartararo (Boost – Speed Up Racing), improving on his final run after languishing down in P20 in the early stages of FP2. The Frenchman finished P9 in FP1 and ended Friday as the only non-Kalex rider inside the top 11.

0.390 back from Schrötter was sixth place overall Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), who lost out to Quartararo by just 0.007 seconds on the opening day as the Spaniard aims to build on his top ten last time out in Germany. FP1’s second placed rider Romano Fenati (Marinelli Snipers Team) ended the day in seventh and as top rookie, 0.037 ahead of reigning Moto3™ World Champion Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who propelled himself into eighth in FP2 after finishing FP1 in 13th.

Pons HP40 rider Lorenzo Baldassarri was ninth overall, improving from P11 in the morning, with Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) rounding out the top ten after the opening two Free Practice sessions at the Czech GP. Championship challenger Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo), meanwhile, finished Friday in P12.

A second covers the top 20 intermediate class riders after the opening day’s track action, but can anyone close the gap to Schrötter ahead of qualifying? Find out who can secure pole when the Moto2™ riders go into battle at 15:05 local time (GMT +2).
Oettl quickest overall on Friday

Oettl was P1 on Day 1, just like last time out
Masaki beats Canet and Bulega in the afternoon but remains 0.094 off Oettl’s FP1 time

Philipp Oettl’s (Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing) FP1 time was enough to keep him at the top of the combined timesheets on the opening day in Moto3™ at the Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky, however the German was unable to improve his time in FP2 – a session that saw Kazuki Masaki (RBA BOE Skull Rider) go fastest with a 2:09.288, 0.043 ahead of second place Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and 0.056 quicker than Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46).

The biggest headline of the day, however, was a crash for the unlucky Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3). An FP1 crash at Turn 10 resulted in the Championship leader fracturing his left radius, which means he misses the remainder of the Czech GP as he flies back to Barcelona for surgery.

Back at the front, Oettl ended FP2 in P10, 0.602 behind Masaki who was down in P18 after FP1, but an improvement of nearly 1.5 seconds sees him sit just 0.094 off the German in second on the combined timesheets. Canet ends Friday in Brno as the third fastest rider after a strong day at the office, finishing fourth in FP1 and second in FP2, with Bulega fourth on the combined times.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) rounds out the top five after finishing FP1 in eighth; the Spaniard finished fourth in FP2 to go into Saturday 0.189 off the top spot. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) is sixth fastest overall, improving from P11 in the morning, with Adam Norrodin (Petronas Sprinta Racing) a solid seventh quickest on the combined timesheets – jumping up from P15 in FP1.

The unlucky Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) is eighth on the combined timesheets, ahead of RBA BOE Skull Rider's Gabriel Rodrigo in ninth - a great improvement after finishing FP1 in 23rd. Former Brno winner John McPhee (CIP Green Power) was tenth quickest on his KTM machine but failed to improve his FP1 time.

The lightweight class will be back on track for FP3 on Saturday at 09:00 local time (GMT +2), with qualifying kicking off at 12:35 local time.

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