Marquez conquers 25th premier class pole with impressive 8th for Pedrosa
Today in qualifying for the GP of France, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez stormed to an impressive pole position – half a second faster than second place Dovizioso. His teammate, Dani Pedrosa, who has just returned back from injury, put in a valiant effort and earned himself and third row start for tomorrow’s 28 lap race.
Brief rain showers created mixed conditions in FP4 but gave the riders an opportunity to test the wet weather settings on their bikes. However, by the time Q2 began the track was almost completely dry. Marc took provisional pole on his first exit and then on his final lap he was able to improve by over 0.7s – with his time of 1’32.246 – to secure his front spot start, at the circuit where he achieved his first ever pole in GP racing in 2009 (125cc). Dani, who was 3rd fastest in the wet / dry FP4 session continued to build his confidence since his six week absence and took 8th for tomorrow with his time of 1’33.419.
The race will begin at 14h00 local time.
Marc Marquez
“Every time that we have gone out on track this weekend we have made big changes, in order to decide which direction to take things with the setup. In qualifying we used the best setup that we had found. We were lucky that the track was in good condition which allowed me to ride normally. I am happy with pole position and tomorrow a tough race awaits us, because Jorge especially has a very good pace. We will try to be as close to him as we can!”
Dani Pedrosa
"This first qualifying session back has not gone badly. We could have gone a little faster but in the end I didn't quite manage it. The positive news is that today I am feeling a little better physically than yesterday and that's a good thing!”
Results Session
| 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
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) |
