Johann Zarco surprises everyone, Marc Marquez out of the Top 10

Johann Zarco finished ahead of everyone on Friday at the 2026 French Grand Prix, signing the fastest time overall in pre-qualifying for the fifth round of the MotoGP World Championship season. The Frenchman of the LCR Honda team thus confirmed the excellent signals already shown in the morning, highlighting the competitiveness of the Japanese manufacturer especially on the dry lap in a session characterized by minimal gaps.

The balance was in fact absolute on the Bugatti track: less than three tenths separated the leader Zarco from the tenth place occupied by Pedro Acosta. The home favorite, winner here last year in the rain, also excelled in the dry, stopping the clock in 1’29″907 and preceding by just 10 thousandths Fabio Di Giannantonio with the Ducati VR46.

Ducati places three bikes in the first four positions thanks to the third time of Francesco Bagnaia and the fourth of Alex Marquez, both detached by 138 thousandths and authors of the same chrono. Positive also the balance for Aprilia, which hits direct access to Q2 with Jorge Martin sixth at 0.221 and with the championship leader Marco Bezzecchi seventh at 0.270 from the top.

Access directly to the second phase of qualifying also Joan Mir, author of an excellent fifth place with the official Honda, Alex Rins on Yamaha, Ai Ogura with the Aprilia Trackhouse and Pedro Acosta, tenth despite a fall in the final session. On the other hand, Marc Marquez disappointed: the nine-time world champion appeared less incisive than usual and finished only thirteenth, 0.464 from Zarco. The Spaniard will therefore be forced to go through Q1 in tomorrow’s qualifying.

These are all the times:

1 Johann Zarco LCR Honda Honda 1:29.907
2 Fabio Di Giannantonio Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.010
3 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.138
4 Alex Márquez BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.138
5 Joan Mir Honda HRC Castrol Honda +0.185
6 Jorge Martín Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.221
7 Marco Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.270
8 Alex Rins Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +0.288
9 Ai Ogura Trackhouse MotoGP Team Aprilia +0.289
10 Pedro Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.289
11 Enea Bastianini Red Bull KTM Tech3 KTM +0.367
12 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.381
13 Marc Márquez Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.464
14 Raúl Fernández Trackhouse MotoGP Team Aprilia +0.510
15 Jack Miller Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.521
16 Luca Marini Honda HRC Castrol Honda +0.556
17 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.562
18 Franco Morbidelli Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.763
19 Diogo Moreira LCR Honda Honda +0.816
20 Toprak Razgatlıoğlu Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +1.421
21 Fermín Aldeguer BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +1.527
22 Jonas Folger Red Bull KTM Tech3 +2.543

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