For the second race in succession, there will be no Honda representative during Superpole at Brno after
Ruben Xaus and Alex Lowes failed to make the cut during Q2.
In what proved to be a fairly static Q2 session, only a handful of riders improved on their Q1 efforts, leaving those provisionally outside the top sixteen in peril.
Indeed, just a single rider, wild-card Matteo Baiocco, would haul themselves out of the drop zone, the Barni Ducati man leaping up to 14th place with his very final effort to book a spot in Superpole later today.
His improvement would see Xaus dropped to 17th and out of contention for the second race in succession. Though his new team-mate Lowes managed to slice seven tenths off his Q1 time – more than any other rider -, it couldn't lift him any higher than 21st, ensuring both Castrol Hondas would not qualify.
Additionally, Kawasaki endured a tough session, with Joan Lascorz punished for his lowly 19th after Q1, the Spaniard unable to improve in Q2 to remain in that position for the two races. He will be joined on the fifth row by team-mate Chris Vermeulen , who qualified 20th.
In addition to Baiocco,
Lorenzo Lanzi makes it through to Superpole for the first time aboard the BMW Italia, despite having not partaken in FP1, while Pedercini Kawasaki's Mark Aitchison qualifies for the second race in succession.
Carlos Checa retained the top spot on the aggregate timesheets, though
Max Biaggi and
Michel Fabrizio set the pace in the session outright.