2025 Czech MotoGP, Brno - Friday Practice Results

* Rookie

Official Brno MotoGP Records:

Best lap: Marc Marquez, Honda 1m 54.596s (2016)

Fastest race lap: Dani Pedrosa, Honda 1m 56.026s (2014)

Marc Marquez splashes to the top during a delayed Friday afternoon practice for the 2025 Czech MotoGP at Brno.

Meanwhile, title rivals Alex Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia faced a high-stakes end to the session, sitting outside the top ten and staring down the barrel of Qualifying 1.

Alex crashed, but made it back to the paddock, then sprinted straight through the Gresini garage and onto his spare bike in time for one final lap.

12th as he left the pits, Alex avoided Saturday’s Qualifying 1 by snatching ninth place.

But Bagnaia failed to improve and was left 13th.

After a drying track and slick tyres for the end of MotoGP FP1, a torrential downpour forced Moto2’s afternoon practice to be red-flagged and postponed the premier-class session by 20 minutes.

Once underway, conditions continued to improve throughout the hour.

Lap times suggested a crossover to slicks was viable by the final ten minutes, with sunshine also breaking through the clouds, but several soaking sections meant nobody took the gamble.

However, the likes of Pol Espargaro - riding in place of the injured Maverick Vinales - Jack Miller, Mir, Alex Rins, Fabio Quartararo, Marc Marquez and finally Alex did swap the soft wet rear for the medium at the end.

Jorge Martin, 17th this morning (but inside the top ten if a cancelled lap had counted), topped the timesheets early in the afternoon - for the first time as an Aprilia rider - then held firm in the top six.

Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi - on the front row in the rain last weekend in Germany - had replaced Martin on top, before crashing after aquaplaning at Turn 4. The Italian recovered to claim fourth.

HRC’s Joan Mir and Monster Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo took over P1 from Bezzecchi, before Marc Marquez - fastest this morning despite missing much of the session due to a technical issue - jumped 0.8s clear just before the midway stage.

Johann Zarco, Marquez’s qualifying nemesis at Sachsenring, again forced the eight-time world champion to up his pace to stay on top by a healthy 0.469s.

Dry weather is forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

* Rookie

Official Brno MotoGP Records:

Best lap: Marc Marquez, Honda 1m 54.596s (2016)

Fastest race lap: Dani Pedrosa, Honda 1m 56.026s (2014)

Marc Marquez overcomes technical gremlins to finish the first official Brno MotoGP session since 2020 on top of the timesheets during a wet-dry FP1 for the Czech GP.

Left watching from the sidelines until the final ten minutes, the Spaniard soon made up for lost time, leading by almost one-second before Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller briefly struck back.

Team-mate Francesco Bagnaia - who struggled to 12th in the wet German MotoGP Sprint last weekend - was much more competitive in the wet this morning, then third on slicks.

Gresini Ducati's Alex Marquez, second in the world championship, was fourth ahead of the top KTM of Enea Bastianini, returning from sickness.

Reigning world champion Jorge Martin - who announced he will see out both years of his Aprilia contract on Thursday - finished a trouble-free first MotoGP session since Qatar in 17th.

Martin's best lap time of the morning, a 1m 56.078s, was good enough for ninth, but subsequently cancelled due to track limits.

Marc Marquez, on pole in the wet Sachsenring qualifying last weekend, had pulled off track with a technical issue (thought to be a warning light) as he exited pit lane, leaving him to push the GP25 back to the garage.

Marquez then had to abandon a planned return when his Desmosedici developed another problem after being restarted in pit lane.

Meanwhile, wet Sachsenring front row qualifiers Johann Zarco and Marco Bezzecchi experienced contrasting early fortunes: Bezzecchi was the first faller of the weekend, at Turn 11, while Zarco moved to the top.

Improving conditions allowed Alex Marquez and Jack Miller to complete the first slick laps of the weekend by the midway stage.

Miller then moved to the top with just over 15mins to go, after which lap times tumbled as more riders fitted dry rubber and conditions continued to improve.

Rookie Ai Ogura suffered a huge corner entry highside into Turn 3, destroying his Trackhouse Aprilia. Fortunately, the Japanese walked away.

Practice, which will determine the top ten riders with direct Qualifying 2 access, starts at 3pm local time.

Brno has been completely resurfaced ahead of its return to the MotoGP calendar for the first time since 2020.

After missing all but the Qatar round due to injuries, reigning world champion Jorge Martin is back with Aprilia this weekend.

However, Maverick Vinales is missing due to last Saturday’s shoulder injuries in qualifying at the Sachsenring. Vinales is replaced at Tech3 by KTM test rider Pol Espargaro.

Enea Bastianini is returning to action after missing Germany due to food poisoning.

LCR’s Somkiat Chantra is still recovering from knee surgery and is being replaced by HRC test rider and former LCR racer Takaaki Nakagami.

Franco Morbidelli, who withdrew from last Sunday’s German MotoGP after a shoulder injury in the wet Sprint race, is also absent this weekend.

Augusto Fernandez is competing as a Yamaha wild-card, during the final round before the MotoGP summer break.

Fernandez, Luca Marini, Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins took part in a recent private test at Brno.

The weather is expected to improve for Saturday and Sunday.