The Repsol Honda rider lapped Le Mans over half a second faster than the rest of the pack to take first place on the grid.
A flying 1:32.246 lap put Spaniard Marc Marquez back on top and 0.503 sec clear of second place finisher Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will start from third on the grid after lapping in 1:32.846 – 0.6 sec slower than Marquez.
British rider Cal Crutchlow (CWM-LCR Honda) will start from fourth on the grid after putting in a 1:32.897 lap – just 0.051 sec away from stealing third from Lorenzo.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) starts the French GP in fifth position, leaving Brit Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in sixth. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) & Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) will start from 7th & 8th respectively.
Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing) & Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – who both made the jump up from Q1 – ended up in 9th & 10th place. That leaves Yonny Hernández (Pramac Racing) and Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in 11th & 12th.
The MotoGP action continues on May 17 at 09:40 local time with the warm up session. The race will commence at 14:00.
In challenging conditions at Le Mans, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez was half a second quicker than his nearest competitor in Qualifying Practice 2 as he claimed pole position for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix.
On a track surface that was far from ideal due to earlier rain, Marquez’s best lap time of 1’32.24 in QP2 was just two-tenths off his own Circuit Best Lap record at Le Mans and saw him comfortably take the top spot ahead of Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso, who managed a best time of 1’32.749. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo is a three-time MotoGP winner at Le Mans, and he did his chances of claiming a fourth victory at the circuit no harm by qualifying on the front row, his time of 1’32.846 the third quickest in qualifying. Both Marquez and Lorenzo set their best times using the combination of soft compound slicks front and rear, while Dovizioso used the soft compound front and extra-soft compound rear slick to set his best time.
Rain began to fall prior to this afternoon’s Free Practice 4 session which was declared wet, and although a dry line was present for qualifying, conditions were far from ideal. Track temperatures throughout the day were low, ranging from just 13°C at the start of this morning’s FP3 session to a peak of 21°C at the end of QP2. The cold conditions resulted in riders using the extra-soft and soft compound front slicks in today’s dry sessions, with the medium compound front slick remaining unused. When attempting a quick lap during time attacks in qualifying, the majority of riders preferred the soft compound front slick and this is also likely to be the most popular race choice. The soft compound rear slick also emerged as the preferred race choice today, although some open-class riders are likely to select the extra-soft rear slick for the race, particularly if temperatures remain low. During the wet FP4 session, only the soft compound wet tyre was utilised, with no riders opting for the alternative, hard compound wet tyre.
Tomorrow’s weather forecast suggests slightly warmer conditions, with only a slight chance of rain. The next MotoGP session is the twenty minute Warm Up session at 0940 local time tomorrow (GMT +2) before the twenty-eight lap French Grand Prix gets underway at 1400.
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“The conditions at Le Mans today were extremely challenging for the riders, this morning we had the coolest track temperatures we’ve experienced in MotoGP in a long time, and so I am happy that our tyre allocation enabled the riders to manage the conditions safely. Quite a few riders were able to lap under the race lap record in this morning’s freezing FP3 session which indicates the tyres offered enough warm-up performance and feel in the conditions, which is what you need as a rider at this circuit. Although we had a disruption with the wet conditions in FP4, we’ve had enough dry track time for the riders to decide on which slick tyre combinations will work best for them in the race. The soft compound front and rear slicks are the most popular options due to their optimal combination of cornering and braking performance, and ability to retain temperature, but it is likely that the extra-soft rear slick will be chosen by some open-class riders for the race.”
French MotoGP QP 2 times – Riders that qualified from QP1 shaded in gray
Pos
Rider
Team
QP2 Time
Gap
1
Marc MARQUEZ
Repsol Honda Team
1’32.246
2
Andrea DOVIZIOSO
Ducati Team
1’32.749
0.503
3
Jorge LORENZO
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
1’32.846
0.600
4
Cal CRUTCHLOW
CWM LCR Honda
1’32.897
0.651
5
Andrea IANNONE
Ducati Team
1’33.001
0.755
6
Bradley SMITH
Monster Yamaha Tech 3
1’33.299
1.053
7
Valentino ROSSI
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
1’33.352
1.106
8
Dani PEDROSA
Repsol Honda Team
1’33.419
1.173
9
Danilo PETRUCCI
Pramac Racing
1’33.556
1.310
10
Aleix ESPARGARO
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
1’33.665
1.419
11
Yonny HERNANDEZ
Pramac Racing
1’33.714
1.468
12
Pol ESPARGARO
Monster Yamaha Tech 3
1’33.724
1.478
Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda takes pole at the French GP at Le Mans on Saturday. A Bridgestone Motorsport image
