Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez: the front row has two different explanations

Ducati is back in the spotlight in Le Mans with an extraordinary pole position by Pecco Bagnaia (his first in almost 200 days) and the second position on the grid by Marc Marquez. The two Borgo Panigale Factory Team riders commented hot on their respective exploits, explaining how they were able to take the two best times ahead of the French Grand Prix. Especially since qualifying was held under the sun, after it had seemed for days that the GP-26 would only be able to give its best in case the track was wet.

“To be able to feel the limit of the bike again and thus have the possibility to push is a good feeling – said a very satisfied Bagnaia -. In Ducati we managed to find something that is helping me during the Jerez tests. On the pace we are in good shape, then Marc hit a time in Q1 that moved the bar high for all of us. Now we have to maintain this kind of level in the race as well.”

Bagnaia’s reference is to Marquez’s exploit in Q1, a session that the Catalan had to contest after an unlucky Friday that was also complicated by a yellow flag caused precisely by his teammate in Ducati. The world champion managed to hit Q2 with a time that earned him the new Le Mans track record: a 1:29.288 even faster than Pecco’s 1:29.634, which earned the latter a pole start. “The extra adrenaline from Q2 helped me,” admitted the reigning world champion. “I went a little better, but I still lack consistency. I’m struggling to find it and I have to really figure out which way I’m driving.”

The front-row double takes on an even more special flavor when you consider the context in which it accrued. 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. Indeed, that of Jerez had been the ninth consecutive race without podiums for the Lenovo team, the worst fast for more than 12 years. The French eve had told a story quite different from the one later written in qualifying: Marquez had finished thirteenth in Friday’s pre-qualifying, more than four tenths from the best time signed by Johann Zarco on Honda LCR, openly admitting the difficulties: “It’s never ideal to find yourself in Q1, but today we couldn’t put the necessary speed on the track.”

Saturday’s reversal is all the more significant because it comes after weeks in which both riders had lucidly described the GP-26’s structural problems. “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,” Bagnaia had explained on the eve of the race. Marquez had echoed his teammate by pinpointing a specific technical area: “I notice it especially in the fast corners, especially in the left turns, where I definitely go slower than last year.” Words that now seem to be refuted in the most eloquent way possible by the chronometers at Circuit Bugatti.

The on-track response of the factory Ducati comes at a time when the competition was not hiding its satisfaction with the Borgo Panigale manufacturer’s difficulties. Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola had stated without mincing words, “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 team manager Davide Tardozzi had also acknowledged Aprilia’s meteoric growth: “It is clear that Aprilia has taken a step forward and now we have to focus exclusively on ourselves.” The all-Red front row is therefore the most eloquent answer that the Borgo Panigale manufacturer could give to its detractors.

Third on the grid with his Aprilia was Marco Bezzecchi, the World Championship leader with 101 points to his credit, who arrives at this appointment with the declared objective of correcting his main seasonal weakness. The Romagnolo has collected just 6 of his 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 Aprilia centaur. “I want to focus more on me than on the balances that there may be in Le Mans.” It’s a track that brings bittersweet memories for Bezzecchi: he had won here in 2023, but had never again managed a top 10 finish in subsequent editions. Fourth on the grid was Fabio Di Giannantonio, while surprising was only eighth place for Jorge Martin, Bezzecchi’s Aprilia teammate and his most direct pursuer in the standings with an 11-point gap.