Marc Marquez eased to his sixth win of the season in the Czech GP at Brno, defeating Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso by 3.5 seconds.
Marquez led into Turn 1 from pole position ahead of Dovizioso, the Italian making a characteristic rapid start from fourth on the grid to launch into second ahead of Jack Miller.
The leading trio, along with Suzuki’s Alex Rins, began to pull away from the rest of the field headed by KTM’s Pol Espargaro, Dovizioso tracking Marquez every step of the way.
The Ducati man was unable to break Marquez’s rhythm though, with the crucial moment coming just past two-thirds distance. Marquez briefly tucked the front of his RC-213V into T10, the Spaniard finding time to check for the Ducati behind him.
He then began to extend his advantage at around 0.5s per lap, eventually extending his winning margin to 3.5 seconds as he took the chequered flag.
The battle for third meanwhile went down to the wire, Miller managing to squeeze past Rins with just over a lap remaining.
Rins had overtaken the Aussie with a view to chasing down the leaders around mid-distance, but subsequently used up his Michelin tyres sufficiently to allow Miller to catch him in the closing laps.
Miller first went by Rins into Turn 1, but was re-passed as the Suzuki managed to under-cut him on the exit of the corner. The Pramac Ducati ace had another go down the inside into Turn 5, this time making the move stick and securing his second podium of the season.
Rins therefore had to settle for third ahead of the LCR Honda of Cal Crutchlow, while Valentino Rossi put in a storng performance to finish as top Yamaha in sixth position.
Seventh went the way of Petronas SRT’s Fabio Quartararo, while the second factory Ducati GP19 of Danilo Petrucci came home a distant eighth.
Takaaki Nakagami took eighth in the second of the LCR Honda machines, while Maverick Vinales was a disappointing tenth after he had looked to be one of Marquez’s biggest challengers during practice.
KTM had a tough race after securing their best ever qualifying results in qualifying, Espargaro eventually slipping to 11th while Zarco fell all the way to 14th from third on the grid, the pair struggling for pace on their RC16’s.
Joan Mir and Franco Morbidelli meanwhile retired on the first lap after Morbidelli was forced into a crash by Zarco, Mir collecting the SRT M1 as they both went into the gravel at Turn 4.
Hafizh Syahrin was the only other retirement, the Malaysian dropping his Tech 3 KTM from a points-paying position just prior to mid-distance.
Marquez's championship lead now stands at a formidible 63 following his victory ahead of Dovizioso heading to the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring next weekend.
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