Reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez stormed to pole position at Le Mans this afternoon, going 1.3s faster than he had previously managed all weekend and also had half a second in hand over second-placed Andrea Dovizioso.
Marquez hadn’t been on top form over free practice but he pulled it out of the bag when it matters, sticking in a 1’32.246 compared to Dovizioso’s 1’32.749, set on the extra-soft, turquoise-banded tyre.
Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo made an error halfway through his first flying lap and he didn’t get it back together, ending in third place with a 1’32.846 but significantly quicker than team-mate Valentino Rossi.
Britain has two riders on the second row with Cal Crutchlow pushing his way into fourth place with his last lap on the soft tyre to depose the injured Andrea Iannone on the factory Ducati GP15.
Iannone dislocated his shoulder in a test at Mugello midweek but was only tenth behind Crutchlow. Bradley Smith won the battle of the Monster Yamahas, grabbing sixth place with a 1’33.299 to go quicker than Rossi on the works M1.
The Doctor sits in seventh place on a 1’33.352, more than a second slower than title rival Marquez but Rossi has already this season pulled a setup out of the bag on raceday, so write him off at your peril.
MotoGP returnee Dani Pedrosa was just behind Rossi with qualifying one men Danilo Petrucci and Aleix Espargaro, who had a big crash earlier in the day, taking tenth place.
Yonny Hernandez and Pol Espargaro, who will be desperately unhappy to be so far behind Smith, complete the fourth row. Scott Redding took a tumble at turn four in free practice four and could only muster 15th place while Eugene Laverty ended in 21st place.
