MotoGP 2017: Marquez grabs Czech Grand Prix pole

Championship leader Marc Marquez on pole for Czech Grand Prix, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. 

The summer break is over. MotoGP is back in action. And Marc Marquez has grabbed pole for the first race of the next half of the 2017 season at Brno. The Spaniard pipped Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and teammate Dani Pedrosa to bag his fourth pole position of the season.

In the final practice session, Marquez and Pedrosa led the charge, finishing 1-2. The qualifying session was more or less a similar affair, albeit it was Pedrosa who sat on the top of the lapboard until the final two minutes of the 15-minute shootout. That's because, in his final stint, Marquez posted a lap time of 1m54.981s to clinch pole. Rossi managed to slot his Yamaha M1 between the two Repsol Hondas and finished second. Pedrosa may have settled for third in qualifying today, but his race pace is impressive, meaning he’s a good shot at the podium, or even a race win, tomorrow.

Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati will lead the second row in fourth, ahead of LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow (5th) and Jorge Lorenzo (6th). Although Lorenzo was looking strong today – he was up to the third position in the beginning of the session – his lap-time was nullified for exceeding track limits at Turn 14 (final corner).

Maverick Vinales couldn’t make much of an impression on the top riders today either. He finished the qualifying session in seventh. Danilo Petrucci of Octo Pramac Ducati will start from eighth, followed by Aspar Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista in ninth and Tech 3 Yamaha rookie Johann Zarco in tenth.

Marquez will be aiming to stretch his championship lead with a win tomorrow. The Spaniard is currently reigning at the top ahead of Vinales, Rossi and Dovizioso.