Marc Marquez has extended his championship lead after strolling to his 50th MotoGP victory at Brno.
After a delay of 40 minutes due to the weather, Marquez made the perfect getaway and led from start to finish. The reigning champion wasn’t put any under pressure throughout the race. The only threat was his own mistake at turn 10 with seven laps remaining.
Undeterred, Marquez got the hammer down and extended his lead further. By the time he crossed the line, Marquez was +2.452s ahead of Andrea Dovizioso in second. He now has 50 premier class victories and a championship lead of 63 points. Marquez becomes the fourth rider to achieve 50 MotoGP race wins.
Jack Miller completed the podium after getting by Alex Rins with two laps remaining. The result was Miller’s second podium of the season, after his third place in Texas.
Cal Crutchlow secured fifth spot ahead of Valentino Rossi in sixth. Fabio Quartararo fought back from a slow start to take seventh. Meanwhile Danilo Petrucci finished eighth in what was a quiet race for the Italian.
Takaaki Nakagami and Maverick Viñales completed the top 10. The latter will be extremely disappointed given his dry weather pace earlier in the weekend.
The race was delayed due to track conditions. It rained around 30 minutes before the start, however it was only a short shower. The sun came out and, as a result, three quarters of the circuit was dry. However, between the final turn and first corner it was wet. The race began 40 minutes later than planned.
When the race started, Marquez stormed off the line in dominating fashion. Dovizioso also made a good start, slotting into second at turn one.
Behind them, disaster struck for Franco Morbidelli and Joan Mir. Heading round turn four, Morbidelli was struck by Johann Zarco on the KTM. As a result, Morbidelli fell and took Mir out of the race with him.
Zarco dropped from third on the grid to 12th by the end of lap two. Viñales also struggled, falling from ninth to 15th in the opening laps.
The leading quartet pulled away in the opening stages. All four riders appeared to be managing their race pace well, with Dovizioso keen to stay with Marquez.
Behind them, Rossi was challenging Pol Espargaro for fifth. He finally made his move stick on lap five, with Crutchlow also barging his way through a few corners later.
Crutchlow continued to make progress over the next few laps, getting by Rossi on lap eight. The pair would remain in these positions for the remainder of the race. In the middle of this action, Hafizh Syahrin crashed out at turn 10.
At the front, Marquez was beginning to pull away. He nearly fell at turn 10 with nine laps remaining. A little wobble saw him briefly out of the seat, however he recovered with ease. If anything, this spurred him on as he would open up a huge lead over his rivals.
In the closing laps the main action was for the final podium spot. Miller went by Rins going into turn one, only for the Suzuki to dive back down the inside around the bend. A few corners later, Miller made the move stick. Rins’ tyres had lost grip and, for him, the race was over.
Meanwhile, Marquez crossed the line to take yet another victory. He now has six wins in 2019 and is edging closer to a sixth premier class title.