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

1st 1'32.246

“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

8th 1'33.419

"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!”

MotoGP 2015
Qualifying Round 5   France

Results Session

Dry
Humidity
90%
Track Temp
17°C
Air Temp
15°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Marquez Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'32.246
2 Dovizioso Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1'32.749
3 Lorenzo Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'32.846
4 Crutchlow Cal 35 GBR CWM LCR Honda Honda 1'32.897
5 Iannone Andrea 29 ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1'33.001
6 Smith Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'33.299
7 Rossi Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'33.352
8 Pedrosa Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'33.419
9 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1'33.556
10 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1'33.665
11 Hernandez Yonny 68 COL Ducati 1'33.714
12 Espargaro Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'33.724
13 Vinales Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1'34.245
15 Redding Scott 45 GBR EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'34.551
16 Bradl Stefan 6 GER Athina Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1'34.575
17 Di Meglio Mike 63 FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'34.833
18 Miller Jack 43 AUS LCR Honda Honda 1'34.858
19 Barbera Hector 8 SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'34.870
20 Abraham Karel 17 CZE AB Motoracing Honda 1'34.940
21 Laverty Eugene 50 IRE Aspar Team Honda 1'34.947
22 Baz Loris 76 FRA Athina Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 1'35.456
23 Bautista Alvaro 19 SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 1'35.458
24 De Angelis Alex 15 RSM E-Motion IodaRacing Team ART 1'35.680
25 Melandri Marco 33 ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 1'37.522
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)
2022 Race Winner Enea Bastianini (Ducati)