Francesco Bagnaia snatched pole position for the French MotoGP at Le Mans in the final moments of qualifying on Saturday, pipping his Ducati teammate Marc Marquez to top spot. Bagnaia posted a time of one minute 29.634 seconds in Q2, denying Marquez what had looked like a certain pole after the Spaniard had set the pace earlier in the session.
Marquez had already made headlines before Q2 even began, having failed to progress directly from Friday’s practice. Forced into the Q1 session, he found himself in danger of missing final qualifying altogether before producing a stunning lap that broke the circuit’s lap record, clocking one minute 29.288 seconds. The effort was so impressive that Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi shook his hand as if he had burned it.
Despite setting the fastest lap in Q1, Marquez was ultimately beaten to pole by Bagnaia’s late effort in Q2. Both Ducati riders will be desperate to convert their front-row lockout into a strong race result, having dominated the sprint in Jerez two weeks ago only to both fail to finish Sunday’s main race, which was won by Marc’s brother Alex.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi of Aprilia lines up third on the front row, with Fabio Di Giannantonio fourth. Pedro Acosta and home favourite Fabio Quartararo complete the second row.
