Bagnaia Takes Pole as Marquez Breaks Record

MotoGP, Sportrik Media - Francesco Bagnaia secured pole position for the 2026 French MotoGP at Le Mans after defeating team-mate Marc Marquez and championship leader Marco Bezzecchi in a closely contested qualifying session.

The Ducati Lenovo Team rider delivered a 1m29.634s lap to secure his first pole position of the 2026 season. Bagnaia maximised his final Q2 run while Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio played slipstream tactics on track.

Bagnaia was briefly placed under investigation for potentially impeding Di Giannantonio during the final runs. However, the FIM Stewards ultimately decided no further action was necessary.

Baca JugaBagnaia Pole Le Mans, Marquez Pecahkan Rekor

Despite missing pole position, Marquez remained one of the biggest talking points after smashing the all-time Le Mans lap record in Q1 with a 1m29.288s. That lap was faster than Bagnaia’s eventual pole-winning time in Q2.

From a technical perspective, Ducati once again demonstrated strong one-lap pace at Le Mans, particularly under braking and traction zones exiting slow corners. However, long-run consistency remains a key concern heading into the Sprint Race and Sunday’s grand prix.

Pedro Acosta, Di Giannantonio, and home hero Fabio Quartararo completed the second row of the grid, while Alex Marquez could only qualify tenth after crashing during Q2.

The 2026 French MotoGP Sprint Race is scheduled for Saturday afternoon local time, with changing weather conditions once again expected to play a major role at Le Mans.