Johann Zarco came out on top in a late-session shootout with Sam Lowes to claim pole position for the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno. The reigning champion went head-to-head with the Briton after a late red flag set the stage for a duel between the two but Zarco prevailed by three hundredths of a second with Lowes lining up second on tomorrow’s grid.
One of the stories of the weekend has been the improvement from Alex Marquez who had taken his season-best result in Austria last time out. The former Moto3 champion was quickest on Friday morning and made the brightest start in qualifying too, clocking a 2:01.831 on his second timed lap.
As is often the case in Moto2, the session entered a lull with Marquez remaining unbeaten but with five minutes remaining, qualifying was brought to a halt altogether following a heavy highside for Thomas Luthi at turn nine. With the Swiss rider requiring assistance, the red flags were brought out and once Luthi had been stretchered away, a five minute dash ensued.
Lowes led the charge out of the pits but crucially, Zarco was locked into his slipstream and although the Gresini rider set a 2:01.614 on his last attempt to snatch pole, Johann followed him over the line to wrestle top spot straight off him, clocking a 2:01.581. Marquez was unable to better his early effort and was shuffled back down to third as a result.
Takaaki Nakagami heads the second row with Luthi lining up fifth, assuming he is medically cleared to take the start tomorrow. Franco Morbidelli starts sixth ahead of an out-of-sorts Alex Rins while Danny Kent produced his best qualifying display of the season to beat Jonas Folger to eighth.
Moto2 HJC Helmets Grand Prix Ceske Republiky (Qualifying Result)
[table id=1391 /]
