MotoGP: Pecco Bagnaia stuns Marquez and Bezzecchi to take pole in Le Mans
Updated: 13:54, 09 May
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Andrew McLarneyMotoGP Reporter
Andrew McLarney is a MotoGP reporter for GPBlog. A former karate black belt and two-time national champion by age 17, his early passion for combat sports evolved into a deep interest in UFC and eventually motorsport — with MotoGP becoming his primary focus.
Qualifying is complete and the grid is set for this weekend's French Grand Prix in Le Mans. Ducati finally returned to form with a stunning 1-2 on the front row as both riders produced their best laps when it counted most.
Francesco Bagnaia took his first pole of the season and his first since the Malaysian Grand Prix last year. His Ducati teammate Marc Marquez, who has struggled all weekend to show a competitive pace, set an astonishing lap record to rescue himself from Q1 before leading Q2 for the majority of the session.
Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi also put in an impressive lap but missed out by less than 0.03s. He starts P3 for the sprint and Sunday's race.
Fabio Quartararo impressed for Yamaha and topped FP2 before comfortably making it through to Q2 with Marquez. The Yamaha man managed to qualify in P6.
KTM had a concerning weekend with three out of four riders eliminated in Q1, Pedro Acosta was the highest-placed rider in P5, but the only one of the four to make it through to Q2.
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MotoGP French Grand Prix Qualifying Results
| Position | Rider (Team) | Time |
| 1. | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) | 1:29.634 |
| 2. | Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) | +0.012 |
| 3. | Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) | +0.023 |
| 4. | Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46) | +0.065 |
| 5. | Pedro Acosta (KTM Factory Racing) | +0.183 |
| 6. | Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) | +0.197 |
| 7. | Joan Mir (Honda HRC) | +0.203 |
| 8. | Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) | +0.213 |
| 9. | Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Racing) | +0.254 |
| 10. | Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing) | +0.297 |
| 11. | Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda) | +0.737 |
| 12. | Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha) | +0.982 |
| 13. | Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) | 1:29.885 (Q1) |
| 14. | Enea Bastianini (KTM Tech3) | 1:30.360 (Q1) |
| 15. | Luca Marini (Honda HRC) | 1:30.396 (Q1) |
| 16. | Franco Morbidelli (VR46) | 1:30.413 (Q1) |
| 17. | Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) | 1:30.419 (Q1) |
| 18. | Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) | 1:30.428 (Q1) |
| 19. | Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) | 1:30.439 (Q1) |
| 20. | Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing) | 1:30.769 (Q1) |
| 21. | Brad Binder (KTM Factory Racing) | 1:30.825 (Q1) |
| 22. | Jonas Folger (KTM Tech3) | 1:31.826 (Q1) |
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