Lorenzo quickest out of the blocks at Brno

Jorge Lorenzo took advantage of near perfect conditions at the bwin Grand Prix Ceske republiky to top the first Free Practice session. With the sun shining, and track temperatures rising to 38 degrees C Lorenzo managed to set a 1'56.499 around the 5.4km Automotodrom Brno. This was still some way of Cal Crutchlow’s pole record (1'55.527) from 2013, but was good enough to beat Marquez into second by 0.151s. The reigning MotoGP champion actually crashed after running wide at turn 13 as he tried to avoid hitting the barriers, and was forced to push his bike back down pit lane before re-joining the session.

Marquez’s teammate Pedrosa completed the provisional front row, ahead of the two Factory Ducati Team GP15's. Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone both had at their disposal an updated version of the bike, with a new engine and fairing, although both set their fastest times of the session on the older version. Dovizioso finished just 0.322s behind Lorenzo, with Iannone (+0.415s) less than a tenth further back.

Lorenzo’s teammate and current championship leader Rossi ended the session in sixth (+0.539s) as he looks to use practice more effectively to solve his qualifying woes, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith in 7th.

Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and his teammate Maverick Vinales were in eighth and ninth respectively, with Cal Crutchlow on the CWM LCR Honda completing the top ten.

Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) found himself in 13th, just ahead of the leading Open rider Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) in 14th. Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) was 18th, with the returning Forward Racing team’s Loris Baz in 20th and Jack Miller (CWM LCR Honda) in 22nd. Local rider Karel Abraham finished the session in 25th on his comeback from his foot injury.

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