Lorenzo quickest out of the blocks at Brno

Jorge Lorenzo took advantage of near perfect conditions at the bwin Grand Prix Ceske republiky to top the first Free Practice session. With the sun shining, and track temperatures rising to 38 degrees C Lorenzo managed to set a 1'56.499 around the 5.4km Automotodrom Brno. This was still some way of Cal Crutchlow’s pole record (1'55.527) from 2013, but was good enough to beat Marquez into second by 0.151s. The reigning MotoGP champion actually crashed after running wide at turn 13 as he tried to avoid hitting the barriers, and was forced to push his bike back down pit lane before re-joining the session.

Marquez’s teammate Pedrosa completed the provisional front row, ahead of the two Factory Ducati Team GP15's. Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone both had at their disposal an updated version of the bike, with a new engine and fairing, although both set their fastest times of the session on the older version. Dovizioso finished just 0.322s behind Lorenzo, with Iannone (+0.415s) less than a tenth further back.

Lorenzo’s teammate and current championship leader Rossi ended the session in sixth (+0.539s) as he looks to use practice more effectively to solve his qualifying woes, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith in 7th.

Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and his teammate Maverick Vinales were in eighth and ninth respectively, with Cal Crutchlow on the CWM LCR Honda completing the top ten.

Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) found himself in 13th, just ahead of the leading Open rider Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) in 14th. Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) was 18th, with the returning Forward Racing team’s Loris Baz in 20th and Jack Miller (CWM LCR Honda) in 22nd. Local rider Karel Abraham finished the session in 25th on his comeback from his foot injury.

Results

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Time Behind Gap
1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'56.499 0.000s 0.000s
2 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'56.650 0.151 0.151
3 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'56.784 0.285 0.134
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'56.821 0.322 0.037
5 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'56.914 0.415 0.093
6 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'57.038 0.539 0.124
7 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'57.137 0.638 0.099
8 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1'57.597 1.098 0.460
9 25 Maverick VIÂ¥ALES SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 1'57.753 1.254 0.156
10 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR CWM LCR Honda Honda 1'57.781 1.282 0.028
11 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1'57.983 1.484 0.202
12 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'58.195 1.696 0.212
13 45 Scott REDDING GBR EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'58.365 1.866 0.170
14 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'58.416 1.917 0.051
15 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1'58.445 1.946 0.029
16 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Aspar MotoGP Team Honda 1'58.549 2.050 0.104
17 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'58.589 2.090 0.040
18 50 Eugene LAVERTY IRL Aspar MotoGP Team Honda 1'58.656 2.157 0.067
19 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'58.669 2.170 0.013
20 76 Loris BAZ FRA Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 1'58.720 2.221 0.051
21 6 Stefan BRADL GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'59.434 2.935 0.714
22 43 Jack MILLER AUS CWM LCR Honda Honda 1'59.559 3.060 0.125
23 71 Claudio CORTI ITA Forward Racing Yamaha Forward 2'00.074 3.575 0.515
24 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM E-Motion IodaRacing Team ART 2'00.122 3.623 0.048
25 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE AB Motoracing Honda 2'01.881 5.382 1.759