Marquez qualifies second, crash relegates Pedrosa to row 4
There were mixed feelings for Repsol Honda today at Le Mans, with Marc Marquez emerging second-best from a demanding qualifying session and Dani Pedrosa forced to settle for 11th place after slipping off at turn 4 halfway through the session.
Marquez had found quite a good pace in the morning FP3 session, and he struggled to match that speed in his first run in qualifying. However, the Spaniard put in a couple of very fast laps during his second exit and finished in a strong second position behind pole-man Jorge Lorenzo.
Pedrosa was unfortunate to suffer a small crash after completing his first flying lap and so losing precious time and the chance to improve his lap time enough to do better than 11th.
Tomorrow’s warm-up session starts at 9:40 a.m. local time, when both riders will have the chance to finalize the details before the race takes off at 2 p.m.
Marc Marquez
“I was able to set a good lap today, but it wasn’t perfect. At first with the new tyre I found it hard to get the same feeling I had with used tyres and the bike moved about a lot when I tried to push more. At the end I changed my riding style a little and set two pretty good laps that helped me to fulfil my main objective, which was to get on the front row. I think the pace that I have isn’t bad, and in the last free practice I felt comfortable, although I’m still not quite as fast as Jorge [Lorenzo]. We’ll see what weather we have tomorrow and what the track temperature is for the race, and try to manage things as best we can.”
Dani Pedrosa
“Well I’m obviously disappointed with today’s result, my worst qualifying this year. There isn’t much to say; I lost the front and crashed out with my first bike and I couldn’t complete my second flying lap. With the second bike, I didn't have the same feeling and I wasn’t able to improve my time. Anyway, my race pace may not be the best but it’s not the worst either so tomorrow we’ll try to make the right tyre choice and to start the race well.”
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 29.919s (167.5km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducat,2024) |
| Race Lap | 1m 31.107s (165.3km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2024) |
| Race Time | 41m 23.709s (163.7 km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducat,2024) |
| 2024 Race Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducat) |
| 2024 Sprint Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducat) |
