Thomas Luthi set the fastest ever Moto2 lap of Le Mans to claim his third pole position around the Bugatti circuit. The Swiss rider, who has the best record of any rider in this class around Le Mans, saw off the challenge of star rookie Francesco Bagnaia and championship leader Franco Morbidelli to take pole by 0.026s.
The big news heading into qualifying surrounded Jerez winner Alex Marquez who suffered a dramatic highside in FP3, an incident which also wiped out Iker Lecuona. The younger Spaniard suffered a broken collarbone which ended his weekend and although Marquez continued, he would do so with a broken bone in his foot.
The session started quietly for Luthi as Morbidelli made the early running but the Interwetten rider sprung to life in the final quarter of an hour on his last set of tyres. Thomas immediately broke into the 1:36s to claim provisional pole before proceeding to break his own pole position record, setting a 1:36.548 to hold off the sensational Bagnaia, the Sky VR46 man all but matching his time in the dying seconds.
Morbidelli was a tenth adrift in third while Luca Marini continued his fine run of form with fourth place, comfortably his career best starting spot. Dominique Aegerter remains the leading Suter rider after qualifying fifth ahead of the pain-stricken Marquez while Mattia Pasini heads the third row, joined by Lorenzo Baldassarri and Marcel Schrotter.
Moto2 HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France – Qualifying Result
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