Cycle News Staff | July 19, 2025
MotoGP Sprint Race
Snatching the holeshot, Pecco Bagnaia lead the way until Turn 3 when teammate Marc Marquez attacked and took over at the front. Elsewhere, a poor start from Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) left him down in 19th on Lap 1 whilst at Turn 3 on Lap 2, Augusto Fernandez (Yamaha Factory Racing Team) slid off and collected Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR), ending both their Sprints. Into P3 on the second lap, Acosta got himself ahead of Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) whilst the Frenchman was rubbing fairings with Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) at Turn 10. Meanwhile, Bez’s returning teammate, World Champion Jorge Martin, was up into P7 in the early stages.
Marc Marquez led home a farcical MotoGP Sprint Race when MotoGP’s dreaded tire pressure rule dictated proceedings.
At the end of Lap 4, Bastianini was capitalizing on his strong weekend so far and into fourth and ahead of Quartararo, but the drama was further up the road. On the exit of Turn 4, Bagnaia slowed down and was passed by Acosta, Bastianini and Quartararo. A lap later and it could have been a replay – this time for Marc Marquez; the #93 likewise slowing down and letting Acosta through to let the #37 lead in his first outing at Brno.
Both the Ducatis slowing down but getting straight back into the pace suggested that tyre pressures needed controlling but whatever it was, the last three laps had Acosta, Marc Marquez, Bastianini and Quartararo all in victory contention. Behind, Bezzecchi clambered ahead of Pecco at Turn 11, now into the top five, with Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) next up.
Enea Bastianini (23) secured his first Sprint Race podium since joining the Tech3 KTM team.
On the penultimate lap, Bezzecchi worked his way into fourth ahead of Quartararo as his trademark late pace came to the fore. Up at the front and on the direction change from Turn 8 into Turn 9, Marc Marquez pounced in what would prove to be a Sprint-winning pass on ‘El Tiburon’. Another success in the Sprint for the Championship leader who extended his Championship advantage, with a first Sprint podium for Acosta since Aragon 2024. Two KTMs on a Sprint podium underline their previous happy memories at Brno and it’s a first rostrum of the year for Bastianini. There was a small caveat on top of the podium with Marquez’s tyre pressure under investigation but that was soon over, the win standing for Marc.
Bagnaia (63) and Marquez (93) both received incorrect tire pressure warnings on their dashboards. Both slowed down and let other riders pass but Marquez still won.
Bezzecchi claimed P4 with Quartararo behind him. On the final lap, Fernandez pushed his way into sixth place ahead of polesitter Pecco, whilst Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) and super-sub Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) completed the points-paying positions. On his comeback ride, Martin finished in 11th, just behind Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). Alex Marquez, meanwhile, was forced to settle for P17 and zero points after the nightmare start. That’s 12 more lost to Marc Marquez in the championship chase… but Sunday is another day.
2025 Czech Republic MotoGP Results—MotoGP Sprint Race
1
Marc Marquez
SPA
Ducati Lenovo (GP25)
19m 5.883s
2
Pedro Acosta
SPA
Red Bull KTM (RC16)
+0.798s
3
Enea Bastianini
ITA
Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)
+1.324s
4
Marco Bezzecchi
ITA
Aprilia Racing (RS-GP25)
+1.409s
5
Fabio Quartararo
FRA
Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)
+2.292s
6
Raul Fernandez
SPA
Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP25)
+3.358s
7
Francesco Bagnaia
ITA
Ducati Lenovo (GP25)
+3.648s
8
Johann Zarco
FRA
Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V)
+3.920s
9
Pol Espargaro
SPA
Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)
+4.748s
10
Brad Binder
RSA
Red Bull KTM (RC16)
+5.902s
Moto2 Qualifying
Barry Baltus (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) went from Q1 to pole position at Brno, edging out Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing) by 0.020. Just to rub it in, the Belgian also set his lap behind the American. Roberts’ teammate Marcos Ramirez completes the front row, pushing Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) down to P4.
Baltus (center) followed Roberts (left) to steal away pole position, his first in his Moto2 career and the first for a Belgian rider since 2015. Ramirez (right) made it two America Racing Team Kalex machines in the top three.
A crash for second in the championship Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego) early in Q2 sees him start from P18 on the grid.
Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) leads the rookie charge in P5, with Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) also on the second row in P6. Home hero Filip Salač (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) launches from P9 in Brno.
2025 Czech Republic MotoGP Results—Moto2 Qualifying
1
Barry Baltus
BEL
Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO(Kalex)
1m 58.322s
2
Joe Roberts
USA
OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex)
+0.020s
3
Marcos Ramirez
SPA
OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex)
+0.257s
4
Manuel Gonzalez
SPA
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex)
+0.389s
5
Daniel Holgado
SPA
CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team (Kalex)
+0.483s
6
Senna Agius
AUS
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex)
+0.568s
7
Jake Dixon
GBR
Elf Marc VDS Racing (Boscoscuro)
+0.658s
8
Matteo Pasini
ITA
Fantic Racing Redemption (Kalex)
+0.697s
9
Filip Salac
CZE
Elf Marc VDS Racing (Boscoscuro)
+0.781s
10
Alonso Lopez
SPA
Sync SpeedRS (Boscoscuro)
0.821s
Moto3 Qualifying
Moto3 was frantic as ever during qualifying; Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) took pole position to lead the charge into Sunday, ahead of Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in second and David Muñoz (Liqui MolyDynavolt Intact GP) in P3. Muñoz’s back-of-the-grid start means it’s David Almansa (Leopard Racing) who returns to the front row on the grid in P3.
Guido Pini made it a day to remember with the first pole position of his young GP career.
Maximo Quiles will spearhead the second row, and the star rookie is joined on Row 2 by CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar teammate Dennis Foggia and Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3).
Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) came through Q1 to qualify 10th, which means a P9 starting slot, one place behind impressive debutant Marco Morelli (DENSSI Racing – BOE).
Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA) didn’t take part in Q2 after his FP2 crash and will be reviewed ahead of the race on Sunday.
2025 Czech Republic MotoGP Results—Moto3 Qualifying
1
Guido Pini
ITA
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM)
2m 05.019s
2
Jose Antonio Rueda
SPA
Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM)
+0.026s
3
David Munoz
SPA
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM)
+0.038s
4
David Almansa
SPA
Leopard Racing (Honda)
+0.072s
5
Maximo Qulies
SPA
CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team (KTM)
+0.156s
6
Dennis Foggia
ITA
CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM)
+0.169s
7
Valentin Perrone
ARG
Red Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM)
+0.251s
8
Adrian Fernandez
SPA
Leopard Racing (Honda)
+0.375s
9
Marco Morelli
ARG
DENSSI Racing – BOE (KTM)
+0.557s
10
Angel Piqueras
SPA
FRINSA -MT Helmets – MSI (KTM)
+0.582s
MotoGP Qualifying
All eyes were on 2022 and 2023 MotoGP World Champion Bagnaia in Q1, and it wasn’t smooth sailing in the opening stint for the Italian. Pecco pitted after sitting up and out of his second flying lap while he was P6, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Maverick Viñales’ replacement Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech3) occupying P1 and P2 as things stood.
A better lap came in from Bagnaia on his second run though. A 1:52.715 saw the Italian go 0.4s clear of Di Giannantonio, before Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) climbed to P2. Not for long though. The impressive Espargaro jumped back into the top two before Di Giannantonio went 0.184s off Pecco – but that wasn’t enough. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) powered his way to P2 to go 0.060s away from Bagnaia, so the pressure was on Di Giannantonio in the closing stages.
Francesco Bagnaia capitalized on a Marc Marquez crash to take his first pole of the season.
Did the Italian have a reply? He improved his time, but Di Giannantonio stayed P3. Fernandez’s very solid lap was good enough to knock the VR46 star out of qualifying, as Bagnaia and Trackhouse’s Spaniard strolled into Q2.
The first benchmark lap was set by Marc Marquez and it was a 1:52.522, with Quartararo slotting into an early P2 to sit 0.093s away from the #93. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) placed themselves in P3 and P4, with the returning Martin P10 after his opening effort in Q2.
Having not yet set a lap, Bagnaia was on a charge with five minutes to go. The #63 was 0.119s under Marc Marquez’s time through split two, 0.133s under through split three, and over the line, Pecco pocketed provisional pole by 0.219s.
Marquez will line up second.
What did Marc Marquez, Quartararo and the others have in response? Bezzecchi, after running into the gravel at Turn 1, was down as he started his next flying lap, meaning his front row hopes were gone. And with the yellow flags still waving, a lot of laps were scrubbed off with two minutes to go.
Fernandez’s wasn’t though. The #25 rose to P5 from P12, which shoved Alex Marquez down to P7 as one time attack lap remained for Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, Quartararo, Alex Marquez and Acosta, who were all on track together and fighting for prime position.
Marc Marquez led the freight train and through Sector 1, he lit up the timing screens. The gap was 0.245s through the third split as pole position looked guaranteed – until it wasn’t. Marc Marquez was down at Turn 13 and it was in the same place where Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) had crashed just a second before – as the penultimate corner caught out Friday’s fastest duo.
Another front row for Fabio Quartararo on the factory Yamaha in third.
So with that late drama, pole position went the way of Marc Marquez’s teammate Pecco. A first of the year for the #63, as the championship leader had to settle for P2, with Quartararo earning P3.
Bezzecchi’s crash, in the end, didn’t cost him a place as the Aprilia ride spearheads Row 2, with Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) securing his best qualifying result of the season with P5, also his best since the Indian GP in 2023. The 2020 World Champion has Fernandez alongside him in P6, that’s his best Saturday morning result of the campaign too, as Acosta fronts Row 3 in P7.
Alex Marquez has work to do from P8 if he’s to stop Marc Marquez from extending his championship lead, with Zarco completing that third row in ninth. P10 went to Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP), 11th belongs to Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), and reigning World Champion Martin starts from P12 in his first Grand Prix since Qatar.
2025 Czech Republic MotoGP Results—MotoGP Qualifying
1
Francesco Bagnaia
ITA
Ducati Lenovo (GP25)
1:52.303s
2
Marc Marquez
SPA
Ducati Lenovo (GP25)
+0.219s
3
Fabio Quartararo
FRA
Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)
+0.305s
4
Marco Bezzecchi
ITA
Aprilia Racing (RS-GP25)
+0.341s
5
Joan Mir
SPA
Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V)
+0.460s
6
Raul Fernandez
SPA
Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP25)
+0.493s
7
Pedro Acosta
SPA
Red Bull KTM (RC16)
+0.527s
8
Alex Marquez
SPA
BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24)
+0.547s
9
Johann Zarco
FRA
Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V)
+0.574s
10
Jack Miller
AUS
Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)
+0.677s
2025 Czech Republic MotoGP News—Friday
Marc’s advice for Martin
Martin received some helpful advice from Marc Marquez during his dark times earlier this year.
Jorge Martin received the best advice he received during his injury break came from current championship leader Marc Marquez – and he didn’t heed it.
Marquez messaged his injured compatriot soon after his Qatar smash, and told him to avoid making any rash decisions when healing, something he later reflected would have served him well. “This is very difficult, but taking a look back, I can say Marc texted me,” said Martin when asked for the best advice he received. “A lot of people texted me, but Marc was one of them. And I really appreciate his message. But he told me ‘don’t take any decisions [about your future] when you are injured. So now, thinking back, to there I can say maybe this was the best advice.”
Zarco content with LCR stay
Johann Zarco is happy to stay at LCR but wants HRC’s number one status.
Now that Martin is confirmed to stay at Aprilia, Johann Zarco has insisted he would be content to stay in LCR Honda for 2026, as long as he can considered HRC’s number one MotoGP rider.
“Jorge Martin staying at Aprilia it means there are more questions marks about where I can go,” he said. “The position of number one rider, I’d like to be it. But because things can move in Honda, maybe I can still be the number one rider in LCR. But for the moment this is standby.
“Ideally it would be staying with LCR. What we’re building, it’s pretty good. I need to keep my crew chief. The relation is growing with Lucio. With the experience I have, I can please the partners more than other riders.”
Enea’s return
Bastianini will probably not be eating chicken for a while…
Enea Bastianini was back in action at Brno after a one race absence and revealed he didn’t miss the German Grand Prix because of appendicitis, as was feared at the time, but rather a bacterial infection.
“It was very complicated because in the end, after many tests, I discovered that I had contracted a bacteria called campylobacter from eating chicken. A chicken ruined my weekend,” he said.
“I had a lot of inflammation, but then the tests ruled it out. In MotoGP, you have to be 100% and I don’t think I am. I tried to train a bit before coming here, even yesterday. Overall I’m fine, but I’m not close to my peak form. The biggest problem is the weight loss. I did a kind of reset.”
Friday MotoGP
The storylines stretch further than the quickest trio though as reigning World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) makes an eye-catching return to finish P5, with Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) going from on the deck to Q2 in a matter of minutes at the end of play. Plus, we’ll be seeing Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) in Q1.
A huge downpour at the end of Moto2 Practice carried over to bring us a delay to MotoGP Practice proceedings in Brno. Thankfully, the lull wasn’t too long and once it was safe enough, Practice began at a rain-soaked Czech GP as the field got down to business in the pursuit of a top 10.
Marquez made it look easy in the tricky conditions, going P1 on Friday.
With 48 minutes to go, the returning reigning World Champion sat P1 before teammate Marco Bezzecchi climbed above the #1. How good is it to see Martin back and looking in the groove? Very good is the answer, much like the grip the new Brno surface was providing as the times continued to tumble by the lap as the conditions improved.
The session leader, Bezzecchi, was then down at the exit of Turn 4 with 43 minutes to go. The Italian was a tad wide and ventured through the standing water, and unfortunately it caught out the British GP winner. Meanwhile, the goalposts were moved by Marc Marquez with 36 minutes left, with the #93’s 2:04.421 the time to beat.
As we entered the final 20-minute zone, Zarco was Marquez’s closest challenger, 0.4s down, with Quartararo, Martin and Bezzecchi the provisional top five. However, both Alex Marquez and Bagnaia were sitting outside the all-important top 10.
Rain master Zarco went second fastest on a good day for Honda with two riders in the top 10.
A few dry lines were appearing – particularly down the hill into Kevin Schwantz corner, Turn 10 – but there was too much water on plenty of other parts of the Automotodrom Brno with 12 minutes left to see slick tires unveiled in Practice.
Despite it drying up, the riders were struggling to improve their times. Was this the crossover point where the wet tyres, especially the softer rear Michelin wets, started to struggle as track temperatures rose? It certainly looked that way. And then, drama was endured for the rider second in the championship.
Alex Marquez was down at Turn 7, and he didn’t have a lot of time to get back to the box and back out. The #73 was P11 with six minutes to go, and no improvements were coming for 13th fastest Bagnaia either.
Fabio Quartararo went P3 on Friday on the Yamaha.
Alex Marquez did make it back in time to head back out, so the Spaniard gave himself a chance of saying goodbye to a potential first Q1 appearance of 2025. It was all down to one last lap for both Alex Marquez and Bagnaia and for the latter, his Friday Q2 push was done.
Marquez’s wasn’t though. Through split three, the #73 was 0.7s away from his brother’s effort, and across the line, a 2:04.993 was enough to propel Alex Marquez into P9 and therefore, Q2. Fair play to the Gresini star, that was top-notch stuff.
Bezzecchi and the returning Martin complete the top five behind the top three in what was a confidence-boosting day for the reigning World Champion in tricky conditions. Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) heads into Q2 in P6 while Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) sits seventh on Friday ahead of fit again Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
2025 Czech Republic MotoGP Results—Friday MotoGP
1
Marc Marquez
SPA
Ducati Lenovo (GP25)
2:03.935s
2
Johann Zarco
FRA
Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V)
+0.469s
3
Fabio Quartararo
FRA
Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)
+0.530s
4
Marco Bezzecchi
ITA
Aprilia Racing (RS-GP25)
+0.557s
5
Jorge Martin
SPA
Aprilia Racing (RS-GP25)
+0.721s
6
Jack Miller
AUS
Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)
+0.781s
7
Joan Mir
SPA
Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V)
+0.876s
8
Enea Bastianini
ITA
Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)
+0.943s
9
Alex Marquez
SPA
BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP24)
+1.058s
10
Pedro Acosta
SPA
Red Bull KTM (RC16)
+1.283s
Friday Moto2
Moto3 may have been dry but the dark clouds rolled back into Brno and the rain came in buckets for Moto2. Leading the charge into Saturday and with the top 14 locked in for Q2 following a fast stint when it was dry, Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) hit the jackpot at the right time ahead of home-hero Filip Salač (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), with Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) pocketing a Friday top three.
Joe Roberts looks around to see where the competition has gone as he topped Friday y half a second in Moto2.
Sachsenring race winner Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finished P15 and will have to compete in Q2 on Saturday afternoon. Aron Canet (Fantic Racing Lino Sonego), Gonzalez’s chief title threat, is safely into Q2 along with fourth in the championship, Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team). Ahead of his pit lane start on Sunday, Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) ended Friday down in P28.
2025 Czech Republic MotoGP Results—Friday Moto2
1
Joe Roberts
USA
OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex)
1m 59.032s
2
Filip Salac
CZE
Elf Marc VDS Racing (Boscoscuro)
+0.542s
3
Manuel Gonzalez
SPA
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex)
+0.572s
4
Marcos Ramirez
SPA
OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex)
+0.687s
5
Senna Agius
AUS
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex)
+0.739s
6
Matteo Pasini
ITA
Fantic Racing Redemption (Kalex)
+0.874s
7
Aron Canet
SPA
Fantic Racing LINO SONEGO (Kalex)
+0.875s
8
Jake Dixon
GBR
Elf Marc VDS Racing (Boscoscuro)
+0.959s
9
Alonso Lopez
SPA
Sync SpeedRS (Boscoscuro)
+0.990s
10
Celestino Vietti
ITA
Sync SpeedRS (Boscoscuro)
+1.058s
Friday Moto3
Despite completing just four laps in FP1, later in the day Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) came to play in a dry Practice at the Tissot Grand Prix of Czechia, fronting the Moto3 field with a 2:05.840. Teammate and championship leader Jose Antonio Rueda was P2 and Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) completed the top three as a late lap from Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power) pushed title-hunting Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) into Q1. It’s the first time this season that we’ll see Piqueras in Q1.
Carpe managed to snatch P1 from teammate Rueda on Friday in Moto3.
A pair of fast rookies complete the top five in the form of Guido Pini (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3). Sixth fastest David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) has been handed a back-of-the-grid penalty for being slow on line in Practice. Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) is another regular podium contender who faces Q1 in Brno.
2025 Czech Republic MotoGP Results—Friday Moto3
1
Alvaro Carpe
SPA
Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM)
2m 05.840s
2
Jose Antonio Rueda
SPA
Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM)
+0.157s
3
Maximo Qulies
SPA
CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team (KTM)
+0.334s
4
Guido Pini
ITA
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM)
+0.371s
5
Valentin Perrone
ARG
Red Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM)
+0.438s
6
David Munoz
SPA
Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM)
+0.490s
7
Joel Kelso
AUS
LEVELUP – MTA (KTM)
+0.514s
8
Dennis Foggia
ITA
CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM)
+0.563s
9
Ryusei Yamanaka
JPN
FRINSA -MT Helmets – MSI (KTM)
+0.590s
10
Scott Ogden
GBR
CIP Green Power (KTM)
+0.797s
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