MotoGP Le Mans: Marc Marquez on pole from Andrea Dovisiozo
Marc Marquez claimed pole position for the French MotoGP at Le Mans, the Honda rider topping a session for the first time this weekend
Marquez defied a greasy surface caused by heavy rain falling between the third and fourth practice sessions to set his fastest time of the weekend to beat Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo to the top spot.
After a flurry of different riders went fastest at the beginning of Q2, Marquez moved to the top of the times despite a wild slide on his first run at Turn 10.
Traffic problems frustrated Marquez in his penultimate attempt before he improved his time to secure his second pole position of the season.
Dovizioso and Lorenzo moved to the front row of the grid with their final efforts and relegated Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Iannone to fourth and fifth.
Practice two pacesetter, Bradley Smith, beat championship leader Valentino Rossi to P6, while Dani Pedrosa, returning from arm surgery, ended the session P8 on the second factory Honda.
Danilo Petrucci and Aleix Espargaro came through Q1 to round out the top 10 with Suzuki rider Espargaro recovering from a huge high-side crash in FP3 that left him in considerable pain but without any broken bones.
Earlier in Q1, Scott Redding crashed at Turn 3 after his Honda threw him off when he tried to put the power down on the exit of the corner and left the British rider stranded in P15 on the grid.
STARTING GRID
| Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m32.246s |
| 2 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 0.503s |
| 3 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 0.600s |
| 4 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR | Honda | 0.651s |
| 5 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati | 0.755s |
| 6 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1.053s |
| 7 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1.106s |
| 8 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1.173s |
| 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1.310s |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1.419s |
| 11 | Yonny Hernandez | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1.468s |
| 12 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1.478s |
| 13 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1.999s |
| 14 | Nicky Hayden | Aspar | Honda | 2.021s |
| 15 | Scott Redding | Marc VDS | Honda | 2.305s |
| 16 | Stefan Bradl | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 2.329s |
| 17 | Mike Di Meglio | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 2.587s |
| 18 | Jack Miller | LCR | Honda | 2.612s |
| 19 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Racing | Ducati | 2.624s |
| 20 | Karel Abraham | AB Motoracing | Honda | 2.694s |
| 21 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar | Honda | 2.701s |
| 22 | Loris Baz | Forward Racing | Yamaha Forward | 3.210s |
| 23 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 3.212s |
| 24 | Alex de Angelis | IodaRacing Project | ART/Aprilia | 3.434s |
| 25 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia Gresini | Aprilia | 5.276s |
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