Francesco Bagnaia has denied Marc Marquez a comeback MotoGP pole as Frenchman Fabio Quartararo qualified only 13th for his home grand prix.
Bagnaia rode his Ducati to a 1:30.705s right at the end of Qualifying 2 to edge Marquez (Repsol Honda) by 0.058s, with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati) also lifting late to earn the other front row berth at an overcast Le Mans.
Red Bull KTM’s Jack Miller will start from fourth, alongside Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) and Maverick Viñales, the latter of whom was cruelled by a technical problem for his Aprilia RS-GP as he tried to start his second run.
Viñales (Aprilia Racing) had kicked things off in Q2 with a 1:31.588s and was still on top when he moved the benchmark to a 1:31.256s on his second flyer.
Martin was a late starter to the session but was fastest when he finally laid down a 1:31.219s, before Viñales hit back with a 1:31.120s.
At the end of the first runs, it was ‘Top Gun’ from Marc Marquez on a 1:31.204s, Martin, Miller on a 1:31.282s, and Bagnaia on a 1:31.372s.
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Viñales bike looked to lose drive as he exited the pits for his second run and the Spaniard had to hop off and push his Aprilia back down the lane, with the help of Moto3 rider Riccardo Rossi.
His team-mate Aleix Espargaro then crashed at the fast first-corner sweeper, although he was able to at least walk away from the wild spill.
Bagnaia moved into second with a 1:31.154s at the start of his second run, as Marc Marquez followed Martin around the circuit.
Sure enough, in the final minute before the chequered flag, Martin set a 1:31.023s but #93 immediately bettered that with a 1:30.763s before bailing out of the session at the Turn 3/Turn 4 chicane.
Miller climbed three positions to second on a 1:30.984s on his final lap, but would be shuffled back two spots again when Bagnaia fired in the pole time and Marini a 1:30.842s.
Row 3 will be headed up by Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Ducati), from Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Ducati), with Row 4 comprised of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), Espargaro, and Augusto Fernandez (Tech3 GasGas).
Back in Qualifying 1, Monster Energy Yamaha’s Quartararo was quickest after the first runs on a 1:31.366s and Marini second on a 1:31.767s, but both still opted for another new soft rear Michelin tyre for their second runs.
Marini subsequently improved to a 1:31.700s before Augusto Fernandez took over top spot with a 1:31.343s with two minutes to go.
Quartararo was still provisionally through to Q2 at that point, and then went and repeated his earlier 1:31.366s, but was in trouble when he clocked a 1:31.431s on his final flyer.
Marini was still on a hot lap and would clock a 1:31.268s to take second place for the session and bump the 2021 world champion out of the hunt for pole position.
Quartararo is set to line up 13th in the Sprint and Grand Prix sprint, from Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati), Joan Mir (Repsol Honda), Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha), Alex Rins (LCR Honda), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), Lorenzo Savadori (CryptoData RNF Aprilia), and Jonas Folger (Tech3 GasGas).
The Sprint race takes place tonight (AEST).
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