MotoGP French GP
2022 MotoGP French GP: Qualifying results and starting grid
Francesco Bagnaia claimed his second consecutive pole position of the 2022 MotoGP season at Le Mans, leading a 1-2 for the factory Ducati team in French Grand Prix qualifying.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: May 14, 2022, 2:50 PM
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Italian rider Bagnaia blitzed the Circuit Bugatti lap record in the pole shootout on Saturday, lapping the track in 1m30.450s to secure the fifth pole for a Ducati rider in seven qualifying sessions in 2022.
Jack Miller backed up the performance of Bagnaia to grab second spot on the grid, setting a time that was just 0.069s than his teammate.
Aleix Espargaro continued his strong run in France, securing a spot on the front row for the third consecutive race weekend with a time of 1m30.609s on the Aprilia.
Reigning MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo traded lap times with Bagnaia early on in the session, briefly claiming provisional pole with a 1m30.688s flier.
However, the French rider couldn’t keep up with Bagnaia’s pace in the second part of qualifying and eventually slipped to fourth on the grid, missing out a spot on the front row by 0.089s.
Enea Bastianini produced a solid laptime of 1m30.711s to claim fifth for the Gresini Ducati team, beating the top Pramac Ducati bike of FP3 pacesetter Johann Zarco.
Joan Mir will head up the third row of the grid after successfully progressing to the second leg of qualifying from Q1, with Suzuki teammate Alex Rins and Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin - who also had to go through Q1 - starting alongside him in eighth and ninth respectively.
Marc Marquez could do no better than 10th after making a mistake on his flying lap on his second bike, having damaged his primary machine in a crash in final practice.
However, he still ended up as the top Honda of the grid, with factory teammate Pol Espargaro ending up just behind him in 11th, and Takaaki Nakagami managing only 12th on the LCR-run bike.
Several leading names were eliminated in Q1 and will have to start the race from the lower half of the grid, with Maverick Vinales set to line up 14th on the Aprilia and Franco Morbidelli starting further down in 19th on the second of the two factory Yamahas.
KTM riders will also have a mountain to climb in the race, with factory duo Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder starting only 17th and 18th respectively.
The 2022 MotoGP French GP will get underway at 2pm local time (1pm BST) on Sunday.
2022 French Grand Prix – Q2 results:
Cla Rider Bike Laps Time Gap Interval 1 Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati 9 1'30.450 2 Jack Miller
Ducati 9 1'30.519 0.069 0.069 3 Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia 8 1'30.609 0.159 0.090 4 Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha 8 1'30.688 0.238 0.079 5 Enea Bastianini
Ducati 9 1'30.711 0.261 0.023 6 Johann Zarco
Ducati 8 1'30.863 0.413 0.152 7 Joan Mir
Suzuki 7 1'30.943 0.493 0.080 8 Alex Rins
Suzuki 8 1'30.977 0.527 0.034 9 Jorge Martin
Ducati 7 1'31.068 0.618 0.091 10 Marc Marquez
Honda 7 1'31.148 0.698 0.080 11 Pol Espargaro
Honda 8 1'31.526 1.076 0.378 12 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 9 1'31.595 1.145 0.069 View full results
2022 French Grand Prix – Q1 results:
Cla Rider Bike Laps Time Gap Interval 1 Jorge Martin
Ducati 8 1'30.804 2 Joan Mir
Suzuki 9 1'30.933 0.129 0.129 3 Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati 8 1'30.940 0.136 0.007 4 Maverick Viñales
Aprilia 8 1'31.271 0.467 0.331 5 Luca Marini
Ducati 9 1'31.363 0.559 0.092 6 Fabio Di Giannantonio
Ducati 8 1'31.487 0.683 0.124 7 Miguel Oliveira
KTM 8 1'31.547 0.743 0.060 8 Brad Binder
KTM 8 1'31.610 0.806 0.063 9 Franco Morbidelli
Yamaha 9 1'31.617 0.813 0.007 10 Andrea Dovizioso
Yamaha 9 1'31.618 0.814 0.001 11 Alex Marquez Honda 9 1'31.763 0.959 0.145 12
Remy Gardner
KTM 8 1'31.820 1.016 0.057 13 Darryn Binder
Yamaha 7 1'32.596 1.792 0.776 14 Raúl Fernández
KTM 8 1'32.767 1.963 0.171 View full results
2022 French Grand Prix – Starting grid:
Cla Rider Bike Time Gap 1 Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati 1'30.450 2 Jack Miller
Ducati 1'30.519 0.069 3 Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia 1'30.609 0.159 4 Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha 1'30.688 0.238 5 Enea Bastianini
Ducati 1'30.711 0.261 6 Johann Zarco
Ducati 1'30.863 0.413 7 Joan Mir
Suzuki 1'30.943 0.493 8 Alex Rins
Suzuki 1'30.977 0.527 9 Jorge Martin
Ducati 1'31.068 0.618 10 Marc Marquez
Honda 1'31.148 0.698 11 Pol Espargaro
Honda 1'31.526 1.076 12 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1'31.595 1.145 13
Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati 1'30.940 0.490 14 Maverick Viñales
Aprilia 1'31.271 0.821 15 Luca Marini
Ducati 1'31.363 0.913 16 Fabio Di Giannantonio
Ducati 1'31.487 1.037 17 Miguel Oliveira
KTM 1'31.547 1.097 18 Brad Binder
KTM 1'31.610 1.160 19 Franco Morbidelli
Yamaha 1'31.617 1.167 20 Andrea Dovizioso
Yamaha 1'31.618 1.168 21 Alex Marquez Honda 1'31.763 1.313 22
Remy Gardner
KTM 1'31.820 1.370 23 Darryn Binder
Yamaha 1'32.596 2.146 24 Raúl Fernández
KTM 1'32.767 2.317 View full results
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