Francesco Bagnaia has secured pole position for the Michelin Grand Prix of France at Le Mans. The #63 set the qualifying time mere seconds before the session ended, surprising everyone. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider will be joined on the front row by teammate Marc Márquez and Aprilia Racing rider Marco Bezzecchi. Read on for all the key moments of the MotoGP qualifying session below.
Lap Record Broken to Advance to Q2
After failing to secure one of the top spots in Friday’s Practice session, M.Márquez found himself in Q1 for the first time since the 2025 Indonesian GP. But he was also joined by home crowd favourite, Fabio Quartararo. As riders clocked in their first time attacks, yellow flags came out in Sector 1. Enea Bastianini had come down in Turn 3, the hard front tyre turning in on him.
Quartararo pulled out a smashing final sector, beating Raúl Fernández’s time by five thousandths of a second. It also pushed M.Márquez out of the top two advancing spots. But the session was only halfway done. With riders on the soft tyres, the final flying laps came in, and the reigning world champion had a point to prove. M.Márquez not only went to the top of the board, but also broke Quartararo’s all-time lap record with 1.29.288.
Late Run Secures French GP Pole
Now with two French riders in Q2, the energy from the spectators quickly built in the lead-up to the session start. And no one was wasting time getting back out as another 15 minutes counted down. Following behind Álex Márquez, riders crossed the line to start their first laps. Pedro Acosta got a little too familiar with Fabio Di Giannantonio’s rear tyre but avoided a collision. Though the incident was noted for investigation, no further action was taken. Acosta came up on a provisional front row, but did go off-roading through the gravel down at Turn 2.
As the times kept rolling in, it was clear that nothing less than a lap in the 1:29s would do once again to secure a spot on the front of the grid. Riders returned to their respective garages to regroup and prepare for the final runs in the qualifying session. Á.Márquez crashed with minutes left, coming down out of Turn 3. Meanwhile, the older Márquez brother and Bagnaia tussled with Di Giannantonio. At this point, Bagnaia had only set one lap time to qualify on the third row. But the Italian clearly had something more in the tank, clocking a 1:29.634 with seconds to go and no chance for anyone to improve upon.
One Dry Sprint, One Wet Race to Come
Everyone is watching the skies at Le Mans, with the potential for the weather to turn still looming. Therefore, because all other sessions are held in the dry, any data collected thus far will be thrown out the window if it rains. While the Tissot Sprint should be relatively dry, it’s the feature race on Sunday that will be reminiscent of last year’s history-making event. That said, Zarco has been strong in sunny conditions, and we know he is equally strong in the rain. Could he make it through the pack to win at home once again? However, it feels like Ducati are putting crisis rumours to bed with that qualifying result. Will it translate into points? All will be revealed as we watch our screens for the rest of the weekend.