Andrea Iannone put the championship contenders firmly in the shade at Brno, securing his first victory in seven races. The Italian won a no holds barred scrap involving Marc Marquez and Stefan Bradl with Alex De Angelis also providing fireworks.
Thomas Luthi also shadowed them for much of the race and it was the Swiss rider that led initially after a beautiful move on Bradl into turn three on the opening lap. Bradl quickly fought back at the start of lap two but there was chaos behind. Entering turn one for the second time, Jules Cluzel crashed out of sixth place, losing the front end of his Suter in front of Bradley Smith who had made a typically fast start. The Briton fell to 16th as he took avoiding action and dropped out himself half a lap later.
Bradl restored some calm to proceedings, opening up a small advantage over Iannone and De Angelis while Luthi slipped back to fifth behind Marquez, recovering from a slow start. Desperate to end their respective victory droughts, Iannone and De Angelis fought each other for the right to chase the leader but the pair only succeeded in allowing Marquez back into contention, with the Spaniard sneaking past the pair of them by lap eight.
Bradl's lead now stood constant at almost a second and didn't start to shrink until Iannone retook second on lap 11. The unpredictable Italian had the bit between his teeth and wiped out Bradl's advantage within the space of two laps. On lap 13, the inevitable happened as “Crazy Joe” made a typically late-braking move into turn one.
A lap later, Marquez briefly snatched second but hadn't bargained for the forceful move that came his way from De Angelis. The San Marino rider made heavy contact with the side of the Suter but fortunately, both bikes stayed upright.
Marquez regrouped and hit the front for the first time on the penultimate lap, slipping past Bradl who had retaken Iannone moments earlier. The Speed Master rider wouldn't be denied though and repeated his move on Bradl from earlier in the race to take the lead, this time for keeps.
Marquez followed him over the line in second while Bradl held off De Angelis to take another crucial podium finish. Thomas Luthi kept himself in touch but eventually backed off in the closing stages to finish four seconds back in fifth.
The battle for sixth raged on until the very end with Aleix Espargaro holding off fellow Spaniard Esteve Rabat with Dominique Aegerter eighth and Simone Corsi ninth. Kenan Sofuoglu completed the top ten while there were impressive performances from Mika Kallio and Mike Di Meglio who scored points despite dire grid positions.
Scott Redding sadly went backwards after a good start moved him up to the fringes of the points. The British teenager eventually came home in 26th with Robertino Pietri pipping him on the line.
Lap Leaders (20 Laps):
Luthi (1), Bradl (2-12, 16-17), Iannone (13-15, 18, 20), Marquez (19)
