Ducati revival at Le Mans: Pecco Bagnaia on pole ahead of Marc Marquez
Ducati returns to shine in Le Mans, with a splendid one-two ahead of the French Grand Prix. In pole position there is in fact Pecco Bagnaia, author in Q2 of a time of 1:29.634 unattainable for anyone else. Second, just 12 thousandths behind his teammate, is the rediscovered Marc Marquez: the reigning world champion, forced to also contest Q1, had previously set a new track record. Third, at 23 thousandths, is world leader Marco Bezzecchi on an Aprilia. Fabio Di Giannantonio is fourth, only eighth Jorge Martin. For Bagnaia, this is the first pole position in 196 days, that is, since Malaysia 2025.
Marquez’s masterpiece in Q1 takes on an even more special flavor when considering the context in which it matured. Friday at Le Mans had told quite a different story, with the Catalan forced to finish thirteenth in pre-qualifying, more than four tenths from the best time signed by Johann Zarco on Honda LCR. “We suffered today,” Marquez himself had admitted to Sky Sports microphones, without hiding his difficulties. “It is never ideal to find yourself in Q1, but today we could not put the necessary speed on the track.” Words that make the Saturday morning turnaround even more resounding, when the nine-time world champion stopped the clock at 1:29.288, a new all-time Circuit Bugatti record, snatching access to Q2 with a gush that left the entire paddock stunned, including a surprised Davide Tardozzi and a smiling Bagnaia in their respective pits.
The flash in qualifying comes after weeks in which the entire factory Ducati had come under scrutiny. In the first four Grands Prix of the season, neither Marquez nor Bagnaia had managed to take a win or podium in Sunday’s long races, an unthinkable statistic for a team used to dominating. Marquez himself had lucidly analyzed the GP-26’s problems on the eve of the French weekend: “The results show that we have speed but not consistency. This year we have been much more inconsistent. I notice it especially in the fast corners, especially in the left turns, where I definitely go slower than last year.” Bagnaia had echoed his boxmate with almost mirror words: “The Ducati is certainly not working as we expected, so our moment is quite difficult. The bike in braking remains nervous, it’s no longer like it was when it allowed you to take off very strong, enter very strong and stay there.” It was a picture that confirmed how the GP-26’s problem was structural and not related to the individual rider.
Framing the difficulties of the factory Ducati is the impetuous growth of Aprilia, which with Bezzecchi and Martin has shown over the course of the season that it is anything but willing to be a spectator. Team manager Davide Tardozzi had already warned everyone in recent weeks, “It is clear that Aprilia has taken a step forward and now we must focus exclusively on ourselves.” Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola had also made no secret of his satisfaction: “We are also benefiting from the fact that Marc Marquez is clearly not okay. We have been working great over the winter, and Marco Bezzecchi has the advantage of starting further up the grid than others.” Ducati’s front row one-two finish is thus the most eloquent answer the Borgo Panigale-based manufacturer could give to its detractors.
Bezzecchi, third on the grid, comes to this round with the stated goal of correcting his main seasonal weakness. Indeed, the world leader has collected just 6 of his 101 total points in the Sprint Races, slipping in Thailand and Austin and also making a mistake in Jerez. “I simply made more mistakes on Saturday,” admitted the Romagnolo without mincing words. “I want to focus more on me than on the balances that there may be in Le Mans.” A track, that of the Circuit Bugatti, which brings bittersweet memories for Bezzecchi: here he had won in 2023, but had never again managed to achieve a top 10 finish in subsequent editions.
More defiladed than expected was the fifth place on the grid of Pedro Acosta, who on the eve of the weekend had shown himself among the most optimistic. “I have always been very fast here, ever since my first year in Moto3, it usually suits me,” the KTM Spaniard had said, also recalling how Le Mans had been a turning point last year after a difficult start to the season. The Austrian manufacturer had also brought some technical updates to France: “The bike with the updates we bring from Jerez will help us a little bit. We’ll see if we can take a step forward,” Acosta had added. For now, Fabio Quartararo’s sixth place and Joan Mir’s seventh testify to the across-the-board competitiveness of a group that promises to be spectacular in the race.
MotoGP, GP France 2026: the starting grid
1. Francesco Bagnaia 1:29.634
Ducati
2. Marc Marquez 1:29.646
Ducati
3. Marco Bezzecchi 1:29.657
Aprilia
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio 1:29.699
Ducati
5. Pedro Acosta 1:29.817
KTM
6. Fabio Quartararo 1:29.831
Yamaha
7. Joan Mir 1:29.837
Honda
8. Jorge Martin 1:29.847
Aprilia
9. Ai Ogura 1:29.888
Aprilia
Row 4
10. Alex Marquez 1:29.931
Ducati
11. Johann Zarco 1:30.605
Honda
12. Alex Rins 1:30.616
Yamaha
13. Raul Fernandez 1:29.885
Aprilia
14. Enea Bastianini 1:30.360
KTM
15. Luca Marini 1:30.396
Honda
16. Franco Morbidelli 1:30.413
Ducati
17. Toprak Razgatlioglu 1:30.419
Yamaha
18. Diogo Moreira 1:30.428
Honda
19. Jack Miller 1:30.439
Yamaha
20. Fermin Aldeguer 1:30.769
Ducati
21. Brad Binder 1:30.825
KTM
22. Jonas Folger 1:31.826
KTM
