Saturday morning began under cool skies at Le Mans, with air temperatures sitting at 18C and track temperatures at just 14C. As teams prepared for FP2 and the looming qualifying sessions, setup evaluation remained a central theme across the paddock.

Early Running Setups

Home favourite Johann Zarco heads into Saturday carrying renewed momentum after an impressive Friday at Le Mans. The rider, who stunned the field with a dramatic wet-weather victory here in 2025, arrived this weekend facing inevitable questions about whether changing conditions could once again play into his hands.

Friday’s running suggested Zarco may no longer need rain to contend at the front. He topped Practice by the narrowest of margins, edging Fabio Di Giannantonio by just 0.010s.

Di Giannantonio reverted to the older aerodynamic specification previously used on his VR46 Ducati, while Francesco Bagnaia continued comparative testing with one machine running each aero package. Both Álex Márquez and Marc Márquez elected to remain with Friday’s configurations, prioritising stability over experimentation.

Early Session Pace Setters

The opening ten minutes of FP2 brought an immediate response from Fabio Quartararo. Last year’s polesitter quickly moved to the top of the timesheets and maintained control of the session as the clock ticked down.

With just under ten minutes remaining, Quartararo’s 1m30.580s remained unbeaten. Meanwhile, Marc Márquez endured a notably subdued session. Running down in 12th for much of FP2, the six-time MotoGP champion struggled to establish rhythm at a crucial point of the weekend.

Late Session Tension Builds

Drama arrived late in the session when Zarco crashed at the penultimate corner. Though unhurt, the incident disrupted his final preparations ahead of qualifying and momentarily silenced the home support. Moments later, Márquez appeared to salvage momentum with a lap quick enough for second position, only for the time to be cancelled due to yellow flags.

As the chequered flag fell on FP2, Quartararo held firm at the top with a benchmark 1m30.580s lap, giving the French crowd further reason for optimism heading into qualifying. Bagnaia secured second despite his ongoing setup evaluations, while Di Giannantonio continued his strong weekend form in third after reverting to the older aero package. Rookie Ai Ogura completed an impressive top four, capping off a tightly contested session where consistency and timing once again proved critical ahead of Q1.

At a circuit where traffic and incidents can dramatically alter the grid order, execution may prove just as important as raw pace. Saturday’s qualifying session could carry even greater weight than usual.