10:11
At the end of Friday's running, there was just under three tenths covering the top 10. This Q2 session is going to be a thriller.
Marc Marquez, Ducati Corse, 2026 French MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
LIVE
MotoGP France LIVE: Pecco Bagnaia beats Marc Marquez to pole
Live coverage of qualifying and the sprint for the 2026 MotoGP French Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Pecco Bagnaia takes first pole of 2026
- Marc Marquez fastest in Q1 with lap record
- Fabio Quartararo goes into Q2
The 2026 MotoGP French Grand Prix continues on Saturday 9 May with qualifying and the sprint from Le Mans, with home hero Johann Zarco hoping to delight the crowd once again.
The LCR Honda rider made history in 2025 with his win in wet conditions at Le Mans, and has faced numerous questions about repeating this coming into the weekend amid grim forecasts for Sunday.
But Johann Zarco showed he and his Honda have pace in the dry, too, on Friday, after he topped Practice by just 0.010s from VR46 Ducati's Fabio Di Giannantonio.
In what was a tight Practice, Honda looked solid over one lap as well as race pace, while Ducati continued its strong form from the Spanish Grand Prix, with Di Giannantonio leading Pecco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez.
Marc Marquez was the big casualty of the top 10 shootout on Friday afternoon, as the reigning world champion failed to make it directly into Q2. Though the Ducati has made a step since the Jerez test, the seven-time world champion appears to still be struggling to get the most out of his bike.
Aprilia had a mixed day at Le Mans on Friday, but Marco Bezzecchi was fast over long-run pace, while both he and team-mate Jorge Martin made it directly into Q2.
KTM's Pedro Acosta was second at the end of Friday's running, as he comes into Saturday at Le Mans looking for his second sprint win of the season.
2026 MotoGP French Grand Prix: Saturday schedule
FP2 - 9:10am BST-9:40am BST
Q1 - 9:50am BST-10:05am BST
Q2 - 10:15am BST-10:30am BST
Sprint - 2pm BST
09 May 2026
10:06
Rest of the grid will look like:
- Fernandez
- Bastianini
- Marini
- Morbidelli
- Razgatlioglu
- Moreira
- Miller
- Aldeguer
- Binder
- Folger
10:05
Q1 - Chequered flag
The chequered flag is out and Marc Marquez will end this session top.
Fabio Quartararo will go through to Q2 along with him.
10:04
Ducati has clearly found something overnight for Marquez. He complained yesterday that he was struggling with front-end confidence.
10:02
That is a lap record at Le Mans!
10:02
But Marc Marquez has obliterated that with a 1m29.288s! He's 0.431s clear of the field with three minutes to go.
10:02
Quartararo goes quicker with a 1m29.719s.
09:57
Around seven minutes to go in this Q1 session.
09:57
A replay of Bastianini's crash shows he just tucked the front on the way into Turn 3.
That could be hugely costly given the speed he has shown so far this weekend.
09:57
The order for now is:
- Quartararo
- Fernandez
- Marquez
- Morbidelli
- Marini
- Moreira
- Miller
- Binder
- Razgatlioglu
- Folger
- Aldeguer
- Bastianini
09:56
So, just 0.016s covering the top three right now. How close do you like it?
09:55
Massive lap from Quartararo! He's gone top with a 1m29.967s.
09:55
Fernandez has gone slightly quicker to a 1m29.972s to take over top spot, but there's still almost six tenths for the rest to close down on Marquez to get into the top two.
09:55
Marquez's best yesterday was a 1m30.371s, so that's a considerable jump. That 1m29.988s is the third-best time of the weekend so far.
09:54
Crash - Enea Bastianini
Bastianini has gone down at Turns 3/4. He's already up and running to get back for his second bike.
Marc Marquez fastest with a 1m29.988s, which is his best lap of the weekend. That's put him 0.653s clear of Raul Fernandez in second.
09:50
Q1 begins
The green flag is waving for the start of Q1.
09:48
This is the first Q1 appearance for Marc Marquez since Indonesia 2025.
09:46
Le Mans MotoGP: FP2 Results
2026 French MotoGP, Le Mans - Saturday Practice Results
Fabio Quartararo, 2026 French MotoGP.
© Gold and Goose
09:46
French MotoGP - Q1 group
This is the list of riders going through Q1 in a few minutes.
| Enea Bastianini | ITA | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) |
| Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) |
| Marc Marquez | SPA | Ducati Lenovo (GP26) |
| Raul Fernandez | SPA | Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) |
| Jack Miller | AUS | Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1) |
| Luca Marini | ITA | Honda HRC Castrol (RC213V) |
| Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) |
| Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Pertamina VR46 Ducati (GP25) |
| Diogo Moreira | BRA | Pro Honda LCR (RC213V)* |
| Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)* |
| Fermin Aldeguer | SPA | BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) |
| Jonas Folger | GER | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16) |
09:43
Pecco Bagnaia was putting in some good late laps on used rubber. Got to look at him for a sprint win today if he gets qualifying right.
The double world champion has just looked so much more like his old self this weekend, and that's great to see.
09:41
FP2 - chequered flag
The chequered flag is out in FP2.
Fabio Quartararo holds onto top spot as he goes into Q1 in a few minutes.
- Quartararo - 1m30.580s
- Bagnaia
- Di Giannantonio
- Ogura
- Fernandez
- Bezzecchi
- Martin
- Bastianini
- Acosta
- Zarco
09:38
Marc Marquez just did a lap good enough for second, but it was cancelled because of yellow flags.
Qualifying is always tight in MotoGP. But at Le Mans, the probability of yellow flags is always a bit higher. Could prove to be a major factor this morning.
09:36
Crash - Johann Zarco
Johann Zarco has crashed at the penultimate corner. He's up and ok, but not ideal prep for qualifying.
09:34
Marc Marquez is having a quiet session. He's down in 12th at the moment. FP2 is not usually a gauge of much, but this is concerning with Q1 coming up soon and little guarantee that Marquez can make it out of the session.
09:32
Just under 10 minutes to go in FP2 and Quartararo is still fastest with a 1m30.580s.
He wasn't happy with his feeling on the M1 on time attack on Friday. But team-mate Alex Rins showed there is one-lap speed in that Yamaha at Le Mans.