Bradley Smith claimed his first pole of the 2010 125cc season with a commanding performance in Brno qualifying. The Aspar Aprilia rider was barely headed all session, leading from early on, and then going even quicker on his last lap to take pole with a 2m07.146sec.
It was an Aspar 1-2, with Smith's teammate Nico Terol the Briton's nearest rival – albeit nearly half a second adrift – as he returned to the track after the back injury he sustained at Catalunya.
Title rivals Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez will complete the front row – a superb result for the latter given the shoulder injury he sustained in practice, although he still saw his run of poles ended after five straight qualifying triumphs.
Sandro Cortese and Efren Vazquez took fifth and sixth, while Randy Krummenacher recovered from a late high-side at the final corner to get back out and take seventh.
Another rider to crash but hang on in the top 10 was Johann Zarco, who was ninth despite a collision with Esteve Rabat that ended both their sessions.