Francesco Bagnaia is well placed to extend his Moto2 world championship lead after taking a dominant pole position for the French Grand Prix at Le Mans. The Sky VR46 rider clocked a blistering benchmark time, the fastest ever in the intermediate class around the Bugatti circuit, in the early stages of qualifying and was never headed.
In soaring temperatures, the track conditions seemed to deteriorate as the session unfolded, making Bagnaia’s early burst crucial. The championship leader was only a tenth shy of the race lap record on his first lap of the afternoon, setting a 1:36.986, but his very next attempt not only took him past that mark, but also Thomas Luthi’s all-time Moto2 record around Le Mans.
The record was briefly broken by Xavi Vierge as the Dynavolt rider rose to provisional pole but Bagnaia’s third timed lap proved untouchable with a 1:36.188 securing pole position by two tenths of a second. Vierge held onto second despite late improvements behind with Jerez winner Lorenzo Baldassarri rounding out the front row.
Moto3 champion Joan Mir backed up his impressive practice form by qualifying a season’s best fourth ahead of Marcel Schrotter while Alex Marquez could only manage sixth on the second Marc VDS Kalex. Sam Lowes was the leading KTM rider in seventh, just ahead of Brad Binder and Simone Corsi, while Miguel Oliveira will have to come from a lowly grid position for the second race running after qualifying down in tenth.
Moto2 HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France: (Qualifying)
[table id=3019 /]
