Zarco storms to shock Brno MotoGP pole as Quartararo crashes

Johann Zarco steered his 2019-spec Ducati machine to a shock first pole for his Avintia outfit, while Fabio Quartararo crashed out on his final flying lap.

Zarco languished down in ninth following a subdued opening gambit in Q2, but managed to get a handy slipstream as he began his final pair of qualifying laps behind several over bikes ahead.

He set a blistering opening sector on his final tour-over two-and-a-half tenths quicker than anyone else-an advantage he managed to expand to 0.303 as he crossed the line to snatch provisional pole from Quartararo.

The Frenchman looked to be the only man capable of denying Zarco and Avintia a dream result, the Petronas SRT rider just over a tenth down with a sector remaining.

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Disaster was around the corner for Quartararo though as he tucked the front of his M1 into Turn 13, sliding off into the gravel-thus bagging Zarco a sensational pole in only his third event on Ducati machinery.

Quartararo’s earlier 1:55.990 was still enough to keep him second on the grid just ahead of team-mate Franco Morbidelli who completed the front row.

Aleix Espargaro was another to step out from the shadows in the pole shootout, the Aprilia pilot running second for most of the session as he utilised a slipstream from Quartararo to lap just 0.084 away from the Yamaha’s benchmark.

He was ultimately unable to improve on his final efforts and therefore slipped to fourth, though still a hugely encouraging performance from the new RS-GP.

Maverick Vinales completed the top five for Yamaha, while Pol Esparagro was the fastest KTM in sixth just ahead of team-mate Brad Binder.

Espargaro looked set to bag second on the grid, having set a time just 0.092 slower than Zarco on his final flyer.

He would then swiftly lose the lap however after being pinged for a yellow flag infringement, dropping him to the back of the second row as a result.

Binder meanwhile was forced to contest Q1 after only managing 16^th in FP3 on Saturday morning, getting through at the death following a penalty for Takaaki Nakagami.

Alex Rins led Q1 by just under a tenth form the Japanese racer, but this was short-lived for the LCR Honda as he had his final Q1 lap deleted for track limits on the exit of Turn 11-elevating Binder into second in the session and the final spot in Q2 while Nakagami dropped to 17^th for the race.

Danilo Petrucci was the fastest of the Ducati GP20’s in qualifying down in eighth, while Joan Mir took ninth for Suzuki ahead of Valentino Rossi.

Alex Rins could only muster up 11^th following his strong Q1 performance, with Cal Crutchlow rounding out the Q2 runners.

Miguel Oliveria will line up 13^th after missing out on a Q2 berth by just a few hundredths, with Jack Miller just behind in 14^th position.

Andrea Dovizioso’s tough weekend in the Czech forests continued in qualifying, the Italian managing a disappointing 18^th on the grid as he struggled to get to grips with his GP20.

Things weren’t much better for the factory Honda squad either, Stefan Bradl leading Alex Marquez as the last men classified following a crash from Bradley Smith early on in Q1-the two RC213-V’s therefore lining up just 20^th and 21^st in tomorrow’s Czech GP.

Brno, Saturday, August 08, 2020