Marc Marquez’s stunning 1’31.293 in today’s qualifying at Le Mans was 0.790” faster than the previous circuit-best lap (Lorenzo – 2016) but just a fraction down on the new pole record set by Johann Zarco in front of his home crowd.

A confirmation of the team’s strong work leading up to the race, the lap time came after Marc finished second in the morning’s FP3 session and third in FP4.

Dani Pedrosa went successfully through QP1 to QP2 but was unable to improve his speed and tomorrow will start the French Grand Prix from tenth place on the grid. The race begins at 2:00 p.m. local time.

Marc Marquez

2nd 1'31.293

“Qualifying went very well. I expected to be fast but ’31.2 was really fast. Of course, Johann had something extra today and that made him even faster! He deserves this pole. On our side we’re very, very happy because this track is one of the worst for us and, even though we’re still struggling a bit, we’re up there and that’s the important part. This morning we had a small tumble and in general, over the weekend, we’ve seen many crashes for several riders. The asphalt offers fantastic grip, which gives you great confidence, so you lean too much and push too much, but ultimately risk a crash. In the morning with cooler temperatures, but also in the afternoon on new tyres, it’s important to wait for the tyre to be ready before pushing hard. It’s something to take into account for tomorrow. Today we tried many different tyres, but we haven’t made our choice yet. It’ll be important to choose the best compound and then try to manage the race well. I think that the biggest challenge tomorrow will be Dovizioso. He’s not on the front row but tomorrow he’ll be there.”

Dani Pedrosa

10th 1'32.024

“The lap times were very tight and the differences very small. It’s a matter of tenths, but those tenths count a lot. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to make a good qualifying lap, so I’m not very pleased with the result and, in general, with our weekend here so far. We’ll work hard this evening and look for a solution. At the moment we’re losing a little bit everywhere, and at the end this creates quite a gap in such a tight field. Looking at the positives, if we’re able to make a step forward, we should be able to improve our speed around the entire track. Let’s see what we’re be able to do and tomorrow we’ll totally focus on the race.”

MotoGP 2018
Qualifying Round 5   France

Qualifying Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
Location Information

Built in 1965 around the existing 24-Hour track, the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit lies 5km south of the city of Le Mans and 200km south-west of Paris. The venue has hosted Grand Prix since the late sixties but a serious accident to Spanish rider Alberto Puig in… read more.

Length 4.185 kilometres / 2.6 miles
Width 13 metres
Left corners 5
Right corners 9
Longest straight 0.674 kilometres / 0.419 miles
Constructed 1966
Modified 2008
Resurfacing Resurfaced before 2017 round

Automobile Club de l'Ouest, Le Mans, France - View in Google Maps

www.lemans.org

Records

Pole Position 1m 30.450s (166.5km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022)
Race Lap 1m 31.778s (164.1km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2022)
Race Time 41m 34.613s (163 km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2022)
2023 Race Winner Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati)
2023 Sprint Winner Jorge Martin (Ducat)