Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia managed to snatch the first starting position for the French Grand Prix, the fifth round of the MotoGP World Championship for the 2023 season.
The defending champion qualified against Honda rider Marc Marquez after recording a time of 1:30.705 minutes, 0.058 seconds behind the Honda rider, while Valentino Rossi’s rider Luca Marini completed the front row.
This is the first time since the Portimao Tour that Marquez has participated in a qualifying session, as the Spaniard missed 3 rounds in a row due to the injury he sustained in the opening race.
Yesterday’s test leader, Jack Miller, will start from fourth place, 0.279 seconds behind Banaya time, and next to him will be Jorge Martin in fifth place and Maverick Vinales from sixth.
Vinales was leading with 3 minutes remaining, but Bagnaia managed to improve his timing, and the Aprilia rider was unable to keep up with the top five riders and improve his time due to a problem with his bike that occurred in the team garage.
Viñales’ teammate Alex Espargaro was involved in a violent accident at 300 km / h, but fortunately after that he walked away without injuries.
--By the end of the yellow flags Marquez had moved into pole position, but Bagnaia had a different opinion when he pushed hard on the last lap and snatched the lead.
Bad luck continued to haunt the Yamaha team, with Fabio Quartararo starting 13th and his teammate Franco Morbidelli starting 17th.
Honda rider Alex Raines will start from 18th place, while temporary Honda rider Danilo Petrucci, who is participating as a substitute for Enia Bastianini, will start from 19th.
The Sports Court overturned the penalty imposed on Marquez due to his contact with KTM rider Brad Bender in the opening round in Portimao, and this contact that caused Marquez’s injury and his absence from the championship for the last three races.
Seventh place went to Marco Besicki, ahead of Alex Marquez in eighth place, Johan Zarco in ninth place, and the fourth-row squad included Brad Bender in tenth place, Alex Espargaro in eleventh place and Augusto Fernandez in thirteenth place.
