"Distracted" by Zarco's fall, Marc Márquez on the ground in Brno

Beaten by his teammate Francesco Bagnaia in the fight for pole position at Brno, Marc Márquez also ended his session in the gravel trap, just a few meters behind Johann Zarco, who had also just crashed. Immediately, there were questions about whether the Spaniard had lost control while yellow flags were being shown, which would more than likely attract the ire of the chief steward, Simon Crafar.

The number 93 explained in the Parc Fermé that he did not see any yellow flags, but that it was the Frenchman's fall that caused him to lose concentration, which led to his own loss of control: "I didn't see any yellow flags. I'm fine, and I'm happy to be second. My crash was more due to distraction, because I was braking very hard, and there were no yellow flags, otherwise I would have obviously eased off. When Zarco crashed, I saw some smoke, it distracted me, I went a bit wide and lost the front of the bike."

THE FALL OF MARC MARQUEZ! 🤯🤯

The Spaniard will not be in pole position in Brno! ❌#CzechGP | #MotoGP pic.twitter.com/pKy6xGX5hq

— CANAL+ MotoGP™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) July 19, 2025

After a rain-disrupted start to the weekend, Saturday offered the riders their first opportunity to experience the grip offered by a resurfaced track in Brno. MotoGP hasn't visited the track for five years, and according to Marc Márquez, it's not easy to get into the rhythm of a qualifying lap when you haven't had the opportunity to do so previously. With Pecco Bagnaia having made it through Q1, could this have given the Italian an advantage in the final part of qualifying?

"I'm happy to be second because today we needed a bit of a special drive, and it was difficult to find ourselves doing a first run against the clock in qualifying, since we weren't really able to do it yesterday."

Will the Sprint, which will start at 15 p.m. French time, be an opportunity to see a battle between the two official Ducati riders? We have every right to hope so!

ALSO READ > Czech GP – Qualifying: Bagnaia back on pole, Quartararo on the front row