Mir back amongst top ten despite tumultuous Czech weather

Wet to dry to wet again, the MotoGP World Championship’s return to Brno caught up on five years’ worth of weather in a single day. Joan Mir timed his last run of the day perfect to net seventh overall while Luca Marini struggled with grip.

For the first time in five years, the sound of the MotoGP World Championship echoed through the hills of Brno as practice began. A damp morning gave way to brief respite from the rain at midday before a torrential downpour hit just before the afternoon session – delaying it by 20 minutes. As in the morning, the ceasing rain would see conditions improve steadily through the afternoon with an almost dry line appearing on the new resurfaced Czech track.

After the troubles of Germany, Joan Mir was determined to banish his demons and after a complicated first practice, he attacked the soaking wet afternoon with his full might. Heading out early in the session with the conditions at their worst, Mir looked to take full advantage of the hour session to understand how the newly resurfaced circuit would dry out. His strategy would pay off as he set a 2’04.811 late in the session to earn a spot in Q2 – his first since the Aragon GP. Seventh overall to end the day, Mir’s team have a few points to try in tomorrow’s predicted dry conditions.

Luca Marini’s fortunes were the inverse of his Honda HRC Castrol teammate’s; the Italian doing well in the morning but struggling for grip in the drying conditions of the afternoon. It left Marini somewhat puzzled, but he and the Honda HRC engineers are already hard at work to analyze the data and make improvements in the future. The only way is forward for the #10, his admirable work ethic already gearing up to make the most of Saturday despite the setbacks of Friday.

Johann Zarco showed the potential of the Honda RC213V, ending the session in second overall.