Bagnaia fires his way to pole with new lap record, leads factory Ducati 1-2

After FP2 and FP3 saw four new lap records set - all set by four different riders - Q2 was no different as Bagnaia’s time of 1:30.450s was good enough to beat Zarco’s lap from the morning.

After using Quartararo twice in FP3 to secure a top ten spot, Q2 got underway with Marc Marquez slotting in behind Bagnaia. 

The eight-time world champion had left pit lane ahead of the Ducati rider, however, The Honda man made sure to slow up on his out lap. 

But after making a mistake in sector one, Marquez lost touch and instead settled behind Miller for the start of lap #2. 

After putting his Ducati on provisional pole, Bagnaia started to pull clear of the rest with a time of 1:30.699s. 

Two tenths quicker than the lap prior, Bagnaia was looking in dominant form before Quartararo surprisingly went top, much to the delight of the home crowd. 

Quartararo was slower than Bagnaia heading into sector four, however, the championship leader gained -0.123s in just four corners. 

The first to challenge Quartararo’s top time was Bastianini as the Gresini rider had three red sectors. 

The two-time race winner in 2022, like Bagnaia, lost ground to Quartararo during sector four though, instead went third. 

Next up was Bagnaia, and what a lap it was for the Jerez winner as he set a new all-time lap record. 

Bagnaia, who had team-mate Jack Miller tucked up right behind him, helped the Australian to second across the line. 

A late effort from Aleix Espargaro put him in contention for pole, but the Aprilia rider lost out in sector four.

Martin and Mir survive Le Mans MotoGP Qualifying 1

After failing to secure an automatic Q2 spot in FP3, Suzuki rider Joan Mir, pole hound Jorge Martin, Maverick Vinales and Brad Binder were the big names in need of getting through. 

Mir, who was the first rider to set a flying lap, went over four tenths clear of the chasing group. However, that soon changed as Martin delivered an impressive opening time of 1:31.380s. 

Mir’s second lap saw him pip Marco Bezzecchi to top spot, before Martin set another rapid time of 1:31.138s to go quickest. 

Attempting to push on, Mir got turn nine completely wrong which resulted in the Spaniard aborting a lap that could have taken him top. 

With that said, Mir’s next lap around was a great one as he became the first rider to drop below the 1m 31s in Q1. 

A late Ducati charge had Mir sweating as Martin went quickest for Pramac. Then it was the turn of Bezzecchi to try and go fastest, which was the case through the opening three sectors, however, the MotoGP rookie eventually missed out by just +0.007s.