Zarco back at the summit in opening session

The Frenchman leads Dovizioso and Marquez in FP1 as the top 13 are split by less than a second

Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) returned to the top of the timesheets for the first time since Q2 at Le Mans in the opening session at the Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky, setting his fastest lap time as the checkered flag was waved to finish 0.073 seconds ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) in second and Championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in third.

FP1 saw red hot conditions hit the Brno circuit, with Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) continuing his blistering form to set the fourth quickest time of the session – 0.003 behind Marquez and 0.184 off Zarco’s benchmark. Rounding out the top five in FP1 was second in the Championship Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), 0.241 the gap splitting the Italian from P1.

Less than a second covers the top 13 and with temperatures set to rise in the Czech Republic, who will end Friday as the fastest rider in the premier class? Find out when the MotoGP™ field head back out for FP2 at 14:05 local time (GMT +2).

Click here for the full results! 

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