Brno MotoGP qualifying
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Crash
It's Vinales, Miller, Bautista, Morbidelli, Rins after the first set of laps, as Scott Redding suffers an early crash.
Stopwatch
Vinales is quicker, his first lap a 1m56.109s.
Jack Miller is the initial pace-setter with a 1m56.316s, which is 1.2s slower than Rossi's best time of the weekend so far, and will for sure not be good enough.
Everyone out on a fresh set of soft tyres, except for Rins, who is rebelling on the hard compound.
He really needs to make Q2, because his race pace looks extremely competitive as usual.
He really needs to make Q2, because his race pace looks extremely competitive as usual.
Green flag
Q1 is now underway.
Information
Q1 roster: Vinales; A Espargaro; Miller; Bautista; Morbidelli; Syahrin; Rins; P Espargaro; Smith; Bradl; Redding; Abraham; Nakagami; Guintoli; Luthi; Simeon.
Checkered flag
Marquez has topped his first session of the weekend in FP4, and he did it by five tenths. That's come out of nowhere - and is extremely ominous for the race.
Suzuki pair Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins make up the top three, ahead of Jack Miller and Alvaro Bautista.
Rossi only eighth, Dovizioso and Lorenzo only 10th and 12th, Vinales a miserable 17th. Really strange all around.
Suzuki pair Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins make up the top three, ahead of Jack Miller and Alvaro Bautista.
Rossi only eighth, Dovizioso and Lorenzo only 10th and 12th, Vinales a miserable 17th. Really strange all around.
Crash
Petrucci has had a bike failure at the death of FP4, meaning he's probably down to a single Ducati GP18 for Q2.
It's not immediately obvious from his pace, but Aleix Espargaro is not 100 percent fit here after his Sachsenring crash prompted a five-day hospital stay.
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It is possible that some off-track matters are weighing heavily on Vinales' mind, given his increasingly fractious relationship with crew chief Ramon Forcada.
Vinales confirmed on Friday that he and Forcada would be going their separate ways at the end of the year - but while this has been a long-rumoured move, it apparently came as a surprise to the crew chief:
Vinales confirmed on Friday that he and Forcada would be going their separate ways at the end of the year - but while this has been a long-rumoured move, it apparently came as a surprise to the crew chief:
Rossi's laptime was some six tenths up on teammate Maverick Vinales in FP3, which is a lifetime in MotoGP terms and thus consigned the Spaniard to a Q1 appearance.
It will be Vinales' fourth Q1 appearance this year, compared to none for Rossi, although it bears mentioning that the Spaniard has reliably advanced to Q2 every time thus far – and should probably have enough speed to do so again.
It will be Vinales' fourth Q1 appearance this year, compared to none for Rossi, although it bears mentioning that the Spaniard has reliably advanced to Q2 every time thus far – and should probably have enough speed to do so again.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of qualifying for the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno, as MotoGP determines the grid for its first race since its three-week summer break.
Marc Marquez ended the first half of the season 46 points clear and looks in strong form again this weekend, at a track where he's taken three MotoGP poles from five and has never missed out on the front row.
But he certainly doesn't look untouchable and is possibly not even the favourite - given that the works Ducatis have looked rejuvenated, while Yamaha's Valentino Rossi set the outright fastest practice time.
Marc Marquez ended the first half of the season 46 points clear and looks in strong form again this weekend, at a track where he's taken three MotoGP poles from five and has never missed out on the front row.
But he certainly doesn't look untouchable and is possibly not even the favourite - given that the works Ducatis have looked rejuvenated, while Yamaha's Valentino Rossi set the outright fastest practice time.
By: Matt Beer
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