Czech podium
From fifth on the grid Pedrosa returned to his best form to blast through the pack and eventually take victory by 0.410s from Lorenzo in front of more than 138,000 fans. For Lorenzo it was his third successive podium result and he also produced a great ride, having started in sixth on the grid.
Rossi got his seventh rostrum result of 2014 in his 245th premier class race as he equaled the all time appearance record in the top class, pulling level with Alex Barros on that front.
With Marquez finishing fourth it is the first time this year that he did not win the race and this is the first time he has finished a MotoGP™ race off the podium. Marquez is of course still in a commanding position in the standings with a 77 point lead.
Marquez lost out in a midrace battle for third with Rossi, having earlier had a close fight with Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) in the opening laps – with the two former Moto2™ rivals clashing on two occasions.
Iannone would later get the better of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) for fifth in the final stages.
The top ten was completed by Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini).
Home rider Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) scored points in 14th, with substitute rider Leon Camier (Drive M7 Aspar) scoring his first ever MotoGP point in 15th.
A crash and subsequent retirement saw Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) end his race early. Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Michael Laverty (Paul Bird Motorsport) both crashed out, whilst Danilo Petrucci (Octo IodaRacing Project) and Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) both retired with technical issues.
Dani Pedrosa – “I am very happy to have won this race! This year it has been a tough road to victory, but today everybody in the team is very happy. Seeing their smiling faces makes me happy as well, because you always try to get the best results but don’t always manage to do so. This year we have an amazing rival in Marc, who has had great performances at every round so far. Maybe today wasn’t his best day, but I think that we also worked very well this weekend; bringing home the win for the team feels fantastic”.
Jorge Lorenzo – “Finally we beat Marc, but unfortunately it was not me who got the victory this time. I had a chance to get the win because I was feeling good during the warm up and also on the first laps of the race. The only problem was that the feeling of the bike changed after a few laps and Dani caught me. I need to be more aggressive, because he managed to get away. The bike was not so bad at the end of race but I was on the limit to catch him. If there would have been one more lap I would have been able to try and beat him, but it was too late. I wanted to try and fight for the win, but Dani rode a really good race. It was a good opportunity for us to win because Marc was not fit enough, but we didn’t plan the race perfectly so we have to learn from this experience in the future. I’m very happy with Yamaha’s work and how they have improved the bike these last few races. I think it will also be a big improvement for other tracks. I also feel very strong physically so if it goes well we can fight for the victory.”
Valentino Rossi – “I’m very happy about this result, because it was a difficult weekend. Yesterday I crashed and injured my finger. This morning it was very bad when checking the setting also with pain making it difficult to ride. This afternoon I visited the Clinica Mobile for my finger to prepare it for the race. With Silvano (Galbusera) and the whole team we were able to set up the bike and we were able to have a good race. I’m happy. We had a good pace and got another podium. Unfortunately I lost a bit of time on the first laps because I wasn’t sure, but after I found the rhythm and then it was a great pleasure to beat Marc. He was sliding and had a problem so he wasn’t fast enough. Of course we tried to arrive more in front but the third place was not so bad in Brno because Dani and Jorge rode a very strong race.”
Marc Marquez – “Today was one of those Sundays in which I neither felt completely comfortable, nor had found the best setup for the bike. It wasn’t down to a mistake by me or by the team, it was simply that we didn’t have the same feeling as on other Sundays. In a way it’s taken a weight off my shoulders, as now people won’t be asking me if I can win every race anymore. It was also important that we were able to focus on staying in fourth, even though it was tough not to be fighting for the win; we took 13 points that are important for the World Championship and we have a big advantage. What matters is who wins the title -not who wins the most races”.
The next round on the calendar will be the British Grand Prix, held in two weeks’ time at Silverstone.
