MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez overcame a lengthy stay in the pits due to technical issues to head up the opening premier-class practice session at Brno.
Key moments:
- Zarco quickest in the wet
- Miller a standout in mixed conditions
- Marquez shrugs off technical drama
- Martin on pace already
- Big crash for Ogura
A temperature warning on his dash meant Marquez was effectively a bystander for the first half of the session, taking place on a drying track - and once he was back out, he only did a couple of laps on wets before returning to the pits for another prolonged absence.
LCR Honda's Johann Zarco was the quickest rider during the wet portion of the season, but Pramac Yamaha's Jack Miller was, predictably, the bellwether for the switch to slicks - three seconds clear after his third flying lap, five seconds clear after his fourth.
And Miller ended up fighting Marquez for the top spot in the end, though the points leader ultimately sniped first place by six tenths with his final effort.
Marquez came within a tenth of logging the new record lap of Brno, back on the MotoGP calendar for the first time since 2020, having in the meantime been resurfaced - with the laptimes expected to dip well below the previous numbers.
Pecco Bagnaia, who was ahead of Marquez on the final run and then waved him through, had been towards the sharp end for much of the session - in contrast to his dreadful form in the wet at the Sachsenring - and ended up third, followed by Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and the returning Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM).
Bastianini had revealed on Thursday that his Sachsenring absence wasn't a result of appendicitis after all, but food poisoning that created inflammation that looked like it.
Pedro Acosta (KTM) was sixth in his first session at Brno, followed by Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), who had an early fall in the wet.
A massive SPINNING crash for @AiOgura79 😱😱😱
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) July 18, 2025
Great to see he's walking away from it (also with the fairing in his hand) 👍😅#CzechGP 🇨🇿 pic.twitter.com/KB5PkzcpxJ
Trackhouse Aprilia rookie Ai Ogura recorded the only other crash of the session. He was unhurt in a violent Turn 3 highside on slicks, landing hard on the ground but quickly getting up - and walking away from the site of the crash desolately after picking up the torn-off front fairing from the gravel.
World champion Jorge Martin, returning to official MotoGP action for the first time since Qatar in April and now committed to racing for Aprilia in 2026, placed 17th - but will have been top-10 on the strength of his best lap, erased for track limits.
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