French MotoGP, Le Mans - Full Qualifying Results
| French MotoGP, Le Mans - Full Qualifying Results | ||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max |
| 1 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP23) | 1'30.705s | 9/9 | 317k |
| 2 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +0.058s | 8/9 | 315k |
| 3 | Luca Marini | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) | +0.137s | 8/8 | 315k |
| 4 | Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.279s | 8/8 | 315k |
| 5 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP23) | +0.318s | 7/8 | 317k |
| 6 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | +0.415s | 4/7 | 313k |
| 7 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) | +0.468s | 9/9 | 318k |
| 8 | Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP22) | +0.570s | 8/8 | 313k |
| 9 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Ducati (GP22) | +0.593s | 8/8 | 312k |
| 10 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.740s | 7/7 | 311k |
| 11 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | +0.818s | 4/7 | 314k |
| 12 | Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Tech3 GASGAS (RC16)* | +0.891s | 6/8 | 310k |
| Qualifying 1: | ||||||
| 13 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 1'31.366s | 3/8 | 312k |
| 14 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 1'31.545s | 8/8 | 308k |
| 15 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | ITA | Gresini Ducati (GP22) | 1'31.718s | 9/9 | 313k |
| 16 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 1'31.81s | 8/8 | 306k |
| 17 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 1'31.886s | 6/8 | 307k |
| 18 | Alex Rins | SPA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 1'31.959s | 7/8 | 311k |
| 19 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP23) | 1'32.092s | 8/9 | 315k |
| 20 | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | RNF Aprilia (RS-GP22) | 1'32.41s | 7/8 | 313k |
| 21 | Jonas Folger | GER | Tech3 GASGAS (RC16) | 1'33.605s | 8/8 | 307k |
* Rookie
Fastest Friday time:
Jack Miller AUS KTM 1m 30.950s
Official Le Man MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 1m 30.450s (2022)
Fastest race lap:
Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 1m 31.778s (2022)
Ducati's reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia takes pole position for the French MotoGP at Le Mans ahead of Marc Marquez, taking part in his first qualifying since the Portimao opener, and Luca Marini.
KTM's Friday leader Jack Miller, Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin and Aprilia's Maverick Vinales will form row two.
Vinales was holding pole with three minutes to go but had to surrender the position when his RS-GP began stuttering in pit lane as he departed for his final run.
More drama at Aprilia followed when team-mate Aleix Espargaro suffered a 300km/h fall through the first corner, fortunately walking away.
The yellow flags cleared for the final minute when Marquez, chasing Martin, shot from third to first on the new Kalex chassis.
But Bagnaia saved his best for last and put his factory Ducati into pole position by just 0.058s ahead of the Repsol Honda rider.
Marquez was forced to walk back to the pits after a problem on his practice start, the Spaniard thus joining Vinales, Miller and Bagnaia in suffering a mysterious engine issue this morning.
There was more qualifying woe for Fabio Quartararo, who failed to advance past Qualifying 1 for his home round - after losing out to Luca Marini and a brilliant performance by rookie Augusto Fernandez - and will start this afternoon's Sprint and Sunday's main race from just 13th on the grid.
Marc Marquez has finally been cleared to make a MotoGP return this weekend after being ruled out of Argentina, COTA and Jerez due to a delicate thumb fracture when he lost control under braking and collided with Miguel Oliveira in the Portimao season-opener.
Earlier this week, the MotoGP Court of Appeal also confirmed that Marquez will not need to serve the double Long lap penalty he received for causing that incident, having overturned the FIM Stewards attempt to shift the penalty from ‘Argentina’ to Marquez’s next race back.
The eight-time world champion is 80 points behind reigning champion and 2023 title leader Francesco Bagnaia, but with 592 points still available (92 more than the entire 2022 season) under the new Sprint (12 points) + GP (25) race weekend format.
Danilo Petrucci is returning to MotoGP action in place of the injured Enea Bastianini, riding for the same factory Ducati team with which he won in the wet at Le Mans in 2020.
After leaving MotoGP as a full-time rider following a tough year at Tech3 KTM in 2021, Petrucci competed in the Dakar and MotoAmerica before a one-off MotoGP ride for Suzuki at Buriram last season.
The Italian, 32, is currently eleventh in the World Superbike standings with a best finish of fifth place for Barni Ducati.
Bastianini, who broke his shoulder when he was taken down by Luca Marini in the Portimao sprint race, attempted to return at Jerez but withdrew due to the pain.
Miguel Oliveira is missing after suffering a left shoulder dislocation and fracture when he was caught up in Fabio Quartararo’s opening lap accident in Jerez.
Oliveira, who previously missed Argentina due to hip injuries from the impact by Marc Marquez’s Honda at Portimao, is being replaced at RNF by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori.
Team-mate Raul Fernandez, who underwent arm pump surgery following Jerez, tried to ride in Practice 1 but withdrew from the remainder of the weekend after just three laps.
GASGAS Tech3’s Pol Espargaro remains absent due to his multiple injuries in Portimao and is again replaced by KTM test rider Jonas Folger.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
