MotoGP: Bagnaia Battles Through Q1 to Claim Czech Pole

The two-time world champion also benefited from a late stroke of luck. His teammate, Marc Marquez, was on a faster lap but crashed in the penultimate corner. This handed pole position to Bagnaia, whose 1:52.303 lap time put him 0.219 seconds ahead of Marquez.

Joining the Ducati duo on the front row is Fabio Quartararo, 0.305 seconds off Bagnaia's pace. Starting from the second row are Marco Bezzecchi, Joan Mir, and Raul Fernandez. Pedro Acosta, Alex Marquez, and Johann Zarco make up the third row.

According to Sportal, during Q1, Bagnaia became the first rider in history to lap Brno in under 1:53, setting a blistering time of 1:52.715 to top the session.

The Italian took a gamble by returning to the pits early, but his time held up, securing his passage to Q2.

Fernandez finished second in Q1, just 0.060 seconds behind the Ducati rider. Fabio Di Giannantonio also dipped under the 1:53 mark, finishing 0.157 seconds behind Bagnaia and securing 13th on the grid for both the sprint and the main race.

Di Giannantonio will share the fifth row with Pol Espargaro, standing in for Maverick Vinales at Tech3 KTM, and Alex Rins. Luca Marini, Miguel Oliveira, and Fermin Aldeguer will start from the sixth row. Brad Binder, the most recent MotoGP winner at the Czech Republic Grand Prix, will start down in 19th, ahead of Takaaki Nakagami and Ai Ogura on the seventh row.

Ogura lost several laps due to exceeding track limits, relegating him to 11th in the session and 21st on the grid. Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez, participating as a wildcard entry, will occupy the eighth row on his own.

The Czech Republic Grand Prix weekend, the 12th round of the 2025 MotoGP season, continues with the 10-lap sprint race. The main race at Brno is scheduled for Sunday.