Czech Republic Grand Prix Preview

Opening hours

Friday August 14

Free Trials 1

Moto3                  09pm – 00pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

MotoGP              09pm – 55pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Moto2                  10pm – 55pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Free Trials 2

Moto3                  13pm – 10pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

MotoGP              14pm – 05pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Moto2                  15pm – 05pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Saturday 15 August

Free Trials 3

Moto3                  09pm – 00pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

MotoGP              09pm – 55pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Moto2                  10pm – 55pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Qualifications

Moto3                  12pm – 35pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Free Trials 4

MotoGP              13pm – 30pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Qualifications 1

MotoGP              14pm – 10pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Qualifications 2

MotoGP              14pm – 35pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Qualifications

Moto2                  15pm – 05pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Sunday August 16

Warm Up

Moto3                 08pm – 40pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Moto2                 09pm – 10pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

MotoGP              09pm – 40pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Race

Moto3                  11pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Moto2                  12pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

MotoGP              14pm (Sky Sport MotoGP HD)

Direct: SKY Sport MotoGP HD

Circuit

Name: bwin Grand Prix Ceské republiky

Place: AUTOMOTODROM BRNO AS, PO Box 1, 641 00 Brno (Czech Republic)

Construction: The world's best drivers have taken part in the Grands Prix held in Brno since 1930. Until 1982 the competitions were organized in the streets that crossed the surroundings of the Czech city. The initiative of President TG Masaryk favored the construction of a real circuit in the 80s, with the hope of organizing a Formula 1 race. In 1987, after several years of absence from the World Championship calendar, it returned to contest the Czech Republic Grand Prix. Enjoyed by both riders and spectators, the Brno circuit winds through some wooded hills that offer excellent positions for contemplating the evolutions of the bikes. Long and safe, with constant changes in elevation and undulating curves, the Brno track has a wide variety of technical difficulties that test the talents of the drivers and engineers.

Distance per lap: 5,4 km

Number of curves: 14 (8 on the right and 6 on the left)

Direction of travel: clockwise

Width: 15m

Straight: 636m

Laps: 22

Total distance: 118.9 km

Average speed: 166.6 km/h

Top speed: 314.8 km/h

Last Grand Prix:

MotoGP 2015 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix – The MotoGP class in Indianapolis was a great race, scene of the tenth race of the 2015 season. The race was based on a double duel between Jorge Lorenzo e Marc Marquez e Dani Pedrosa e Valentino Rossi. The first two fought for the victory and the reigning champion prevailed, winning the second consecutive race, the third of the season, the twenty-second of his MotoGP career. Valentino Red instead he got the better of a mai domo Dani Pedrosa and with this third position he manages to maintain the leadership of the world championship, which now sees him in command with a nine point advantage over Lorenzo. Marquez instead "snags" the third place in the world ad Andrea Iannone, fifth today with Ducati. Marquez is now 56 points behind Rossi and is not out of the world championship yet.

Race report

The highlight of the day has arrived, the riders of the MotoGP class are ready to compete in the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, the tenth round of a season which sees our Valentino Rossi at the top of the world championship standings. Yesterday in the fifteen minute "Time Attack" the reigning champion achieved the best performance and therefore the pole position Marc Marquez, his third consecutive pole on the Indy circuit. The Honda rider will have team-mate Dani Pedrosa next to him in the front row Jorge Lorenzo. New second row with the Honda cal Crutchlow who will start from fourth place in front of an amazing playerDanilo Petrucci, first Ducati rider on the grid. The Team Pramac rider from Terni is ahead of the Yamaha Bradley Smith. In the third row we find two Italians and a Spaniard. It's about Andrea Iannone (Ducati), Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and Maverick Vinales (Suzuki). The rider from Vasto and the one from Pesaro have a different pace, certainly better than that of Rossi, who will have to make a great start so as not to let the leaders escape. Andrea Dovizioso after difficult qualifying he will instead start from the fourth row, having obtained the tenth time. All ready, twenty-seven laps to go for 112.59 km. The traffic lights go out, the fastest at the start is Jorge Lorenzo, who started ahead of Marquez, Pedrosa, Iannone, Smith and Rossi. Petrucci loses three positions, eighth. Dovizioso's race was immediately uphill and after a contact at first he went out and rejoined last. The first lap ends with Lorenzo closely followed by Marquez, in turn followed by Pedrosa, Iannone and Rossi. After passing Smith, the Pesaro rider is very close to Iannone, the first Ducati on the track. Small mistake by the rider from Vasto (who turns 26 today), which leaves the "door" wide open for Rossi, now fourth. Lorenzo is still in the lead, with Marquez who at the moment seems to want to leave the Majorcan from Yamaha in front. Pedrosa's race was a bit elastic, in some phases he got closer and in others he moved away from the leading duo. Rossi tries to take advantage of this, as he is very close to Honda's #26. The first laps don't see any major changes, although now Lorenzo is trying to pull ahead of a Marquez who now seems to be struggling to keep Lorenzo's pace compared to the start of the race. The two Yamahas seem to be going better in this phase of the race, with Lorenzo and Rossi really running very fast. If on the one hand Lorenzo extends on Marquez, on the other, Rossi recovers on Pedrosa. Behind Iannone he is still in fifth position, ahead of the Yamaha Bradley Smith, to Cal Crutchow's Honda, to Yamaha's Pol Espargaro, to Ducati of Danilo Petrucci and to that of Andrea Dovizioso, who recovered up to tenth position and is ahead of his brand mate Yonny Hernandez. We have now reached the halfway point of the race, Lorenzo still leads ahead of Marquez, with Rossi now very close to Pedrosa and not seeing the first two very far away. Iannone holds his ground and is still the best Ducati rider. With ten laps to go, a few drops of rain fall, the second bikes prepare in the pits, while Rossi attacks and passes Pedrosa, taking himself onto the virtual podium. The stewards wave the flags signaling rain drops, but it is not yet time to return to the pits. The top four are going very well, including Pedrosa, who has caught up with Valentino Rossi. Pedrosa attacks, who takes back third position, it will be a duel right under the checkered flag, in fact the Pesaro man takes back the virtual podium. Meanwhile, Lorenzo is "scary" at the front, with four laps to go they lap in 1'32.6! with Marquez also taking the new track record with 1'32.625. Three laps to go, Marquez attacks, breaking away after the finishing straight of the reigning champion, who passes Lorenzo and takes the lead of the race for the first time. The final lap begins, Pedrosa passes Rossi, with Marquez who seems to be able to pull away from Lorenzo in front. Meanwhile, Rossi passes Pedrosa again, a beautiful duel between the Pesaro native and the Spaniard. Meanwhile, Marquez goes on to win the third race of the year, the second in a row, ahead of Lorenzo and Rossi, who beats Pedrosa! Beautiful race with Iannone finishing fifth ahead of Smith.

Latest edition:

2014 edition:

The series of consecutive victories of Marc Marquez, world championship leader and reigning Honda champion, was interrupted in the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. The winner (26th personal success in the Top Class) was in fact his team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who returns to success. The Sabadell driver's last victory dates back to 2013, when he won in Sepang. Marquez didn't even make it to the podium, leaving the way for the Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. It is the first time since he competed in MotoGP that Marquez did not get on the podium, so in just one race he lost the chance to beat Giacomo Agostini (who like him has 10 consecutive successes) and also his podium progress record. Not bad as far as Honda is concerned, who wins anyway and also for the world ranking which sees Marquez in command with 263 points against Pedrosa's 186 and Valentino Rossi's 173.

Race report

Appointment in the Czech Republic for the riders of the MotoGP class, who in a few minutes will face the eleventh stage of the 2014 world championship, which will be held at the Masaryk circuit. Yesterday in the classic 15-minute "Time Attack" the world leader Marc Marquez once again prevailed, taking his ninth pole of the season and his eighteenth in MotoGP. Great qualifying also for the Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, who will start on the front row next to the reigning Honda champion. Second row for the Yamaha of Bradley Smith's Team Tech 3, for the Honda of Dani Pedrosa's Team Repsol and for Jorge Lorenzo's Yamaha Factory. Valentino Rossi (victim yesterday of a fall that injured the little finger of his left hand) will open the third row with the seventh fastest time. Also with him are Stefan Bradl's Honda and Aleix Espargarò's Yamaha Open. Thirteenth time for Ducati tester Michele Pirro, here as a wild card, while Iodaracing's Danilo Petrucci from Terni is nineteenth and ahead of Alex de Angelis from San Marino, who from this race replaces Colin Edwards, who may have raced last in Indy race of the season (he could be present at a couple of races as a wild card, but will still retire definitively at the end of the season). Everything is ready, 22 laps to go for 118.866 km, the traffic lights go out, the fastest at the start is Andrea Iannone, who got off to a great start with his GP14. The Team Pramac rider is followed by Dovizioso, Marquez, Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Rossi. Two Ducatis in the lead therefore, with the Japanese at the back "biting" the exhausts of the Borgo Panigale reds. The first lap ends with Iannone ahead of Dovizioso, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Marquez, Rossi, Pol Espargarò, Bradl, Smith and Aleix Espargarò. Lorenzo "throws himself" in, taking the lead of the race. Meanwhile, Cal Crutchow falls, in his umpteenth dull race aboard the Ducati. The next Team LCR rider gets back on the saddle, but his ride is compromised. Up front Lorenzo tries to pull away, with Iannone in second place, and Pedrosa ahead of Dovizioso. The Forlì native was followed by Rossi and Marquez, with the Spaniard still waiting. He begins to catch up with the reigning champion who passes Dovizioso, who had also been overtaken by Rossi. Lorenzo tries to escape, but Pedrosa seems to be able to catch him while Marquez is ahead of Rossi, with Iannone and the Spaniard literally punching each other. Risk for the world championship leader, who however emerges unscathed from the battle with the Ducati rider. Pedrosa takes the lead on lap five, immediately trying to pull away from Lorenzo, while Marquez is third. Meanwhile, Yonny Hernandez retires. Dovizioso has caught up with Iannone, now his next teammates (with a view to 2015) are in fifth and sixth position, ahead of Bradl, Aleix Espargarò and Bradley Smith. Two more crashes, first Michael Laverty and then Pol Espargarò. No physical consequences for the two. We have now reached the halfway point of the race, Pedrosa has a 1.6 advantage over Lorenzo, but the real surprise is Marquez, who in third must defend himself from the attack of Rossi, who passes with 10 laps to go. It would be the first time that the reigning champion has not reached the podium since he raced in MotoGP. The series of consecutive successes would also be interrupted, stopping at 10 like those of Giacomo Agostini, who won 10 races in a row in '68, '69, '70. Final laps of the race, Pedrosa is preparing to win his 26th success in MotoGP, while there is a great fight between the Ducatis of Dovizioso and Iannone, with the latter now ahead of the Forlì rider. The last lap begins, Pedrosa wins and interrupts Marquez's series of successes.

RECORD

Most wins: 5 – Valentino Rossi

Highest number of Pole Positions: 3 – Valentino Rossi

Fastest lap: Cal Crutchlow – 1'55.527 – 168.3 km/h – 2013

Circuit Records: Dani Pedrosa – 1'56.027 – 167.6 km/h – 2014

Best Pole: Cal Crutchlow – 1'55.527 – 168.3 km/h – 2013

Top speed: Dani Pedrosa – 314.8 km/h – 2013

Roll of honor for the last 10 editions

Year Moto3 Moto2 MotoGP

2014 Alexis Masbou Esteve Rabat Daniel Pedrosa

2013 Luis Salom Mika Kallio Marc Márquez

2012 Jonas Folger Marc Márquez Daniel Pedrosa

Year Class 125 Moto2 MotoGP

2011 Sandro Cortese Andrea Iannone Casey Stoner

2010 Nicolás Terol Toni Elías Jorge Lorenzo

Year Class 125 Class 250 MotoGP

2009 Nicolás Terol Marco Simoncelli Valentino Rossi

2008 Stefan Bradl Alex Debón Valentino Rossi

2007 Héctor Faubel Jorge Lorenzo Casey Stoner

2006 Álvaro Bautista Jorge Lorenzo Loris Capirossi

2005 Thomas Lüthi Daniel Pedrosa Valentino Rossi

Sources: www.motogp.com