MotoGP Brno Race: Brad Binder magnificent, Zarco heroic

This third meeting of the MotoGP season is placed under the domination of the French colors when we look at the starting grid. A historic moment that must be taken advantage of. So, before the pack is let loose, let us recall the dimension of the feat achieved by Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo.

John Zarco qualified on pole position for the fifth time in the premier class and took his first leading position in the class since the French Grand Prix in 2018. In addition, this is the second time he has found himself successively on the front row in Brno, since he was third last year riding a KTM.

That's one less seat in first class than Christian Sarron, who occupies second place on the list of French drivers having obtained the greatest number of pole positions in the category, behind fabio quartararo with eight.

This is the first pole position for a French driver Brno in the premier category since Jean-Michel Bayle who was on pole position for the first time in his premier class career in 1996.

Will this great French series continue in racing? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts recorded so far…

	2020
FP1	1'56.919 Andrea Dovizioso (see here)	1'57.353 Takaaki Nakagami (see here)
FP2	1'55.802 Fabio Quartararo (see here)	1'56.502 Fabio Quartararo (see here)
FP3	2'04.279 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'56.037 Franco Morbidelli (see here)
FP4	2'03.779 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'56.959 Fabio Quartararo (see here)
Q1	2'05.033 Johann Zarco (see here)	1'56.230 Alex Rins (see here)
Q2	2'02.753 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'55.687 Johann Zarco (see here)
warm up	1'57.052 Andrea Dovizioso (see here)	1'57.037 Pol Espargaro
Course	Marquez, Dovizioso, Miller (see here)	1'57.445 Brad Binder
All time lap record	1'54.596 Marc Márquez (2016)

This is the first pole position for a Ducati rider from an independent team since Jack Miller in Argentina in 2018, and the first in dry conditions in MotoGP since the arrival of Ducati in 2003.

fabio quartararo qualified in second position, marking his 16th front row since joining MotoGP last year. In his previous 15 front row starts, he finished on the podium nine times, including two victories in the last two races.

Si fabio quartararo wins the Brno race at 21 years and 111 days, he will be the second youngest driver to win three successive victories in the premier category, behind Marc Marquez (20 years 182 days, Germany/USA/Indianapolis/2013).

In Brno, Quarterly will aim to become the first Yamaha rider to win the first three premier class races in a season since Kenny Roberts in 1980, who made it on his way to winning the world title. Furthermore, Quarterly will aim to become the first Yamaha rider to win at Brno since Jorge Lorenzo in 2015.

With fabio quartararo et John Zarco, this is the first French 1-2 in the premier class since 1974, when pole position began to be officially recorded.

Franco Morbidelli qualified in third place, marking his first front row start since he was also third fastest in Malaysia last year. He finished 13th in 2018 at Brno, which is his best result in the premier class at the circuit to date.

Alex Espargaro qualified in fourth place, equivalent to the best result by an Aprilia rider in the MotoGP era (Motegi 2017) and the best result for an Aprilia in dry conditions since Jeremy McWilliams who was on pole position in Australia in 2000.

With Zarco, Quartararo, Morbidelli et A. Espargaro, this is the first 1-2-3-4 for the Independent class in qualifying since the introduction of MotoGP in 2002.

Maverick Vinales qualified in fifth place, which is his worst qualifying result since he was sixth on the grid at Silverstone last year.

Espargaro Pol qualified in sixth position after his best time was revoked for failing to comply with a yellow flag. He is the highest placed KTM rider, which is his best qualifying result since he was second at Misano last year.

Brad Binder qualified in seventh position as the best rookie. This is the best result of Binder in qualifying in what is his third MotoGP race.

Danilo Petrucci qualified in eighth position like last year in Brno as the second Ducati rider. First Suzuki driver, Joan mir qualified in ninth position, which is his best qualifying result since he was seventh last year in Valencia. He fell in the first round last year in Brno.

Valentino Rossi qualified in 10th position, which is his worst qualifying result in his 21 visits to this track in the premier class. Rossi's last podium on the Czech track came in 2016, when he finished second behind Cal Crutchlow.

Cal Crutchlow qualified in 12th place as the top Honda rider. This is the first time that a Honda rider has not made the top ten in qualifying since the introduction of MotoGP in 2002.

On the podium for the last two years in Brno, including a victory in 2018, Andrea Dovizioso qualified in 18th position, which is his worst result since joining MotoGP in 2008…

It's 31,6° in the air and 46,5° on the track.

The drivers will leave for 21 laps.

Zarco is ready from 1st place on the starting grid! His neighbor is Quartararo!

And Rossi is also preparing. He will start from 10th row.

Quartararo is the only Yamaha rider to ride hard/medium, the others having chosen hard/soft.

The wild beasts are released and it is Morbidelli who comes out in the lead at the end of the first turn in front of Quartararo and A.Espargaro. Zarco is 1th.

Morbidelli takes the lead while behind, Quartararo, A.Espargaro, Binder and Zarco bring up the rear of the top 5.

Binder, who is also in hard/meduim, goes on the offensive, he passes A.Espargaro, he is now in 3rd place. Viñales is 8th, Rossi 9th. Zarco takes 4th position by overtaking A.Espargaro.

The Ducati officials are on the street, Dovizioso is 11th, Petrucci is 12th. Miller is 14th. Double fall of Lecuona and Mir in turn 13. The driver of Hervé Poncharal cuts the trajectory of the Suzuki driver.

Very aggressive Binder is in Quartararo's wheel.

In front Morbidelli has a lead of 1,1s. P.Espargaro takes 4th place by getting the better of Zarco. There are 16 laps left to go.

The top 10 is as follows after 7 laps: Morbidelli, Quartararo, Binder, P.Espargaro, Zarco, A.Espargaro, Rossi, Viñales and Nakagami.

Morbidelli continues his effort and his flight, he now has a lead of 1,4 seconds over his teammate, Quartararo, whom Binder does not let go of. The KTM rider takes 2nd place by attacking Quartararo.

Fabio goes by P.Espargaro but commits a ball, Fabio passes him again. Fall of P.Espargaro who falls on Zarco, causing his fall, Zarco remains on his wheels. Incident under investigation

Zarco passes Quartararo. He is 3rd.

Binder is 3 tenths behind Morbidelli. There are 10 laps left, his pace is higher than the Petronas driver. The Ymaahs collapse except Rossi who is 6th.

At 9 laps, Binder passes Morbidelli

Zarco is penalized “long lap penalty” following the incident with P. Espargaro. The French driver executes his penalty, he retains his 3rd position.

Respect for the achievement of the long lap from Zarco!

The top 5 with 6 laps to go is Binder Morbidelli, Zarco, Quartararo and Rins.

Rins passes Quartararo with 5 laps to go, Rossi imitates him. Quartararo is now 6th, he is under threat from Oliveira's KTM. Oliveira gets rid of the Petronas driver without difficulty.

Viñales is in 12th place.

The top 10 is as follows with 3 laps to go: Binder, Morbidelli, Zarco, Rins, Rossi, Oliveira, Quartararo, Nakagami, A.Espargaro and Miller

Oliveira makes the effort and comes to place himself in Rossi's wheel. Rins, for his part, continues his comeback on Zarco. He's on it...1 turn remains.

Binder, in front, holds on!

Victory for Binder ahead of Morbidelli, Zarco and Rossi who close the top5 to Oliveira. Quartararo finished 7th, Vińales only 14th.

Full results: