Marquez tops Brno MotoGP test ahead of Zarco, samples new Honda – MotoGP

Marc Marquez topped MotoGP’s post-Czech Grand Prix test at Brno ahead of Johann Zarco, with the Honda rider trying a new prototype bike during the day.

The majority of the eight-hour test was led by one of the two factory Ducati riders, as Jorge Lorenzo set the early benchmark of 1m55.609s before race winner Andrea Dovizioso went 0.092s quicker two hours later.

Dovizioso remained fastest for nearly three hours until Marquez finally edged ahead, only to then be demoted by his team-mate Dani Pedrosa with just under two hours remaining.

But Marquez fought back with 38 minutes to go to end up topping the test with a time of 1m55.209s. Pedrosa was also edged out by Zarco late-on and had ended up third.

The Ducatis of Dovizioso, focusing on chassis comparison, and Lorenzo eventually ended up fourth and fifth respectively.

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, who was testing a new front fork, was sixth, as Valentino Rossi took seventh, more than seven tenths off the pace.

Rossi was the sole factory Yamaha rider to take part in the test as Maverick Vinales was rested after having shoulder pain following his crash in Sunday’s race.

Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci was eighth, while the top 10 was completed by Alex Rins, who worked on electronics in the morning and his afternoon plans included testing a 2019 chassis, and Hafizh Syahrin.

Rins’ team-mate Andrea Iannone missed the second half of the day after crashing, but he still finished 11th in the times ahead of Aleix Espargaro, who tested a carbon swingarm and was another rider to fall.

The sole KTM rider – Bradley Smith – was 13th.

Suzuki tester Sylvain Guintoli, running with two broken ribs, completed the day in 19th.

Hiroshi Aoyama, who replaced the injured Stefan Bradl as Honda’s test rider, rounded out the order in 2oth place, 4.1s off the pace.

The Angel Nieto and Avintia Ducati teams did not take part in the test.

Results