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.
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.
| POS | FOTO | RIDER / TEAM | TIME / GAP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |  | Luca MariniHonda HRC Castrol | 1:30.857s Italia | 0 |
2 |  | Fabio Di GiannantonioPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:30.911s Italia | 0 |
3 |  | Pedro AcostaRed Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:31.065s Spanyol | 0 |
4 |  | Johann ZarcoCastrol Honda LCR | 1:31.109s Prancis | 0 |
5 |  | Raul FernandezTrackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:31.224s Spanyol | 0 |
6 |  | Alex RinsMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:31.302s Spanyol | 0 |
7 |  | Alex MarquezBK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:31.327s Spanyol | 0 |
8 |  | Ai OguraTrackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:31.360s Jepang | 0 |
9 |  | Marc MarquezDucati Lenovo Team | 1:31.388s Spanyol | 0 |
10 |  | Brad BinderRed Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:31.394s Afrika Selatan | 0 |
11 |  | Joan MirHonda HRC Castrol | 1:31.396s Spanyol | 0 |
12 |  | Enea BastianiniRed Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:31.448s Italia | 0 |
13 |  | Fermin AldeguerBK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:31.512s Spanyol | 0 |
14 |  | Marco BezzecchiAprilia Racing | 1:31.532s Italia | 0 |
15 |  | Jorge MartinAprilia Racing | 1:31.533s Spanyol | 0 |
16 |  | Francesco BagnaiaDucati Lenovo Team | 1:31.547s Italia | 0 |
17 |  | Jack MillerPrima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | 1:31.586s Australia | 0 |
18 |  | Fabio QuartararoMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:31.588s Prancis | 0 |
19 |  | Diogo MoreiraPro Honda LCR | 1:31.833s Brasil | 0 |
20 |  | Franco MorbidelliPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:31.892s Italia | 0 |
21 |  | Toprak RazgatliogluPrima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | 1:32.616s Turkey | 0 |
22 |  | Jonas FolgerRed Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:34.098s Germany | 0 |
| POS | FOTO | RIDER / TEAM | TIME / GAP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | | Johann ZarcoCastrol Honda LCR | 1:29.90s Prancis | 0 |
2 | | Fabio Di GiannantonioPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:29.91s Italia | 0 |
3 | | Francesco BagnaiaDucati Lenovo Team | 1:30.04s Italia | 0 |
4 | | Alex MarquezBK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:30.04s Spanyol | 0 |
5 | | Joan MirHonda HRC Castrol | 1:30.09s Spanyol | 0 |
6 | | Jorge MartinAprilia Racing | 1:30.12s Spanyol | 0 |
7 | | Marco BezzecchiAprilia Racing | 1:30.17s Italia | 0 |
8 | | Alex RinsMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:30.19s Spanyol | 0 |
9 | | Ai OguraTrackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:30.19s Jepang | 0 |
10 | | Pedro AcostaRed Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:30.19s Spanyol | 0 |
11 | | Enea BastianiniRed Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:30.27s Italia | 0 |
12 | | Brad BinderRed Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:30.28s Afrika Selatan | 0 |
13 | | Marc MarquezDucati Lenovo Team | 1:30.37s Spanyol | 0 |
14 | | Raul FernandezTrackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:30.41s Spanyol | 0 |
15 | | Jack MillerPrima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | 1:30.42s Australia | 0 |
16 | | Luca MariniHonda HRC Castrol | 1:30.46s Italia | 0 |
17 | | Fabio QuartararoMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:30.46s Prancis | 0 |
18 | | Franco MorbidelliPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:30.67s Italia | 0 |
19 | | Diogo MoreiraPro Honda LCR | 1:30.72s Brasil | 0 |
20 | | Toprak RazgatliogluPrima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | 1:31.32s Turkey | 0 |
21 | | Fermin AldeguerBK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:31.43s Spanyol | 0 |
22 | | Jonas FolgerRed Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:32.45s Germany | 0 |
| POS | FOTO | RIDER / TEAM | TIME / GAP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | | Fabio QuartararoMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:30.580s Prancis | 0 |
2 | | Francesco BagnaiaDucati Lenovo Team | 1:30.646s Italia | 0 |
3 | | Fabio Di GiannantonioPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:30.761s Italia | 0 |
4 | | Ai OguraTrackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:30.766s Jepang | 0 |
5 | | Raul FernandezTrackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:30.836s Spanyol | 0 |
6 | | Marco BezzecchiAprilia Racing | 1:30.845s Italia | 0 |
7 | | Jorge MartinAprilia Racing | 1:30.863s Spanyol | 0 |
8 | | Enea BastianiniRed Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:30.869s Italia | 0 |
9 | | Pedro AcostaRed Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:30.879s Spanyol | 0 |
10 | | Johann ZarcoCastrol Honda LCR | 1:30.894s Prancis | 0 |
11 | | Joan MirHonda HRC Castrol | 1:30.926s Spanyol | 0 |
12 | | Alex MarquezBK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:30.986s Spanyol | 0 |
13 | | Fermin AldeguerBK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:31.035s Spanyol | 0 |
14 | | Franco MorbidelliPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:31.195s Italia | 0 |
15 | | Diogo MoreiraPro Honda LCR | 1:31.201s Brasil | 0 |
16 | | Marc MarquezDucati Lenovo Team | 1:31.247s Spanyol | 0 |
17 | | Brad BinderRed Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:31.260s Afrika Selatan | 0 |
18 | | Luca MariniHonda HRC Castrol | 1:31.286s Italia | 0 |
19 | | Toprak RazgatliogluPrima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | 1:31.339s Turkey | 0 |
20 | | Alex RinsMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:31.459s Spanyol | 0 |
21 | | Jack MillerPrima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | 1:31.541s Australia | 0 |
22 | | Jonas FolgerRed Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:33.005s Germany | 0 |
| POS | FOTO | RIDER / TEAM | TIME / GAP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | | Marc MarquezDucati Lenovo Team | 1:29.288s Spanyol | 0 |
2 | | Fabio QuartararoMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:29.719s Prancis | 0 |
3 | | Raul FernandezTrackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:29.885s Spanyol | 0 |
4 | | Enea BastianiniRed Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:30.360s Italia | 0 |
5 | | Luca MariniHonda HRC Castrol | 1:30.396s Italia | 0 |
6 | | Franco MorbidelliPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:30.413s Italia | 0 |
7 | | Toprak RazgatliogluPrima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | 1:30.419s Turkey | 0 |
8 | | Diogo MoreiraPro Honda LCR | 1:30.428s Brasil | 0 |
9 | | Jack MillerPrima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | 1:30.439s Australia | 0 |
10 | | Fermin AldeguerBK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:30.769s Spanyol | 0 |
11 | | Brad BinderRed Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:30.825s Afrika Selatan | 0 |
12 | | Jonas FolgerRed Bull KTM Tech3 | 1:31.826s Germany | 0 |
| POS | FOTO | RIDER / TEAM | TIME / GAP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | | Francesco BagnaiaDucati Lenovo Team | 1:29.63s Italia | 0 |
2 | | Marc MarquezDucati Lenovo Team | 1:29.64s Spanyol | 0 |
3 | | Marco BezzecchiAprilia Racing | 1:29.65s Italia | 0 |
4 | | Fabio Di GiannantonioPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | 1:29.69s Italia | 0 |
5 | | Pedro AcostaRed Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1:29.81s Spanyol | 0 |
6 | | Fabio QuartararoMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:29.83s Prancis | 0 |
7 | | Joan MirHonda HRC Castrol | 1:29.83s Spanyol | 0 |
8 | | Jorge MartinAprilia Racing | 1:29.84s Spanyol | 0 |
9 | | Ai OguraTrackhouse MotoGP Team | 1:29.88s Jepang | 0 |
10 | | Alex MarquezBK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | 1:29.93s Spanyol | 0 |
11 | | Johann ZarcoCastrol Honda LCR | 1:30.37s Prancis | 0 |
12 | | Alex RinsMonster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | 1:30.61s Spanyol | 0 |
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