MotoGP: Marquez makes it two-in-a-row as Michelin helps more records fall at Brno
A fortnight after his success in Hungary, Ducati Lenovo Team's Marc Marquez took an assertive win at the Monster Energy Grand Prix of Czechia where Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and team-mate Francesco Bagnaia joined him for the podium festivities. Michelin's MotoGPTM range performed strongly throughout, contributing to new track, race-lap and shortest race-duration records for Brno. Read on for more about what happened at the CzechGP...
Marquez got away to a splendid start from fourth to appear in second spot behind Bagnaia on the first of Sunday afternoon's 21 laps. Having opted for medium MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear like the rest of the field – with the exception of Joan Mir (Castrol HRC Team, soft rear) – the Spaniard soon wore down his team-mates lead.
His move to seize control came on Lap 16 and, from that point on, he went unchallenged to beat Ogura – who had eased past Bagnaia on Lap 17 – by four-tenths of a second. In doing so, he completed the distance in a time of 39m51.297s to shave 13.3s off the existing shortest race-duration (2025).
Second place is Ogura's best result to date at MotoGPTM level, a day after becoming the first Japanese rider to start from pole since Takaaki Nakagami (Aragon, 2020). On his way to topping qualifying, he set a new lap record for the Czech venue (1m51.139s).
Bagnaia was third over the line for the fourth race running after claiming the previous day's sprint.
Michelin's tires provided another illustration of their remarkable grip and consistency over the three days, contributing actively to the establishment of three new records.
The previous track record – clocked last season – was bettered by several riders on Friday afternoon before Ogura lowered the bar by 1.2 seconds during the second qualifying session. Similarly, the former race-lap record (1m53.691s, 2025) was beaten by a number of riders before Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) posted the new reference (1m53.122s) on the final lap.
The provisional championship standings continue to be topped by Marco Bezzecchi who was suspended for the Czech race following poor behavior to a marshal. The Aprilia Racing rider is currently tailed by Jorge Martin (+8 points) and Di Giannantonio, while Marquez has fought back to fourth (+40).
Next round: Motul TT Assen, Netherlands (June 26-28).