A damp qualifying day at the Shark Helmets Grand Prix de France threw up some surprises as we now await what the weather brings for Sunday’s race. And to get yourself in the mood for Round 5 of the season, check out ten stats to come out of Saturday in Le Mans:
1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has qualified on pole position for the 83rd time in his Grand Prix career, the 55th in the premier class (48.6%), equalling Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in second on the list of riders with most pole positions in the class behind Mick Doohan (58).
2. In second on the grid is Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), who took his best qualifying result since he was also second at the Sachsenring last year.
3. Top Independent Team rider Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) completes the front row of the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was also third in Japan last year.
4. After joining Q2 from Q1 for the first time this year, Valentino Rossi has qualified in fifth place as the highest-placed Yamaha rider, which is his best qualifying at Le Mans since he was the second fastest qualifier in 2017.
5. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) completes the second row, which is the third time this year he has qualified on the front two rows of the grid.
6. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), who crashed for the first time this year in Q2, has qualified in seventh place, which is his best qualifying performance since he stepped up to the MotoGP™ class.
7. Third Honda rider, Repsol Honda Team’s Jorge Lorenzo, who is the most successful rider at Le Mans with six Grand Prix wins, has qualified in eighth, which is his best qualifying result since he joined Honda this year and the first time he has qualified on the front three rows.
8. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), who was on pole position at the Spanish GP, has qualified in 10th place, which is the first time he qualified outside the front three rows of the grid.
9. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who crashed in Q2, didn’t set any time and therefore qualified in 12th, although it is the best qualifying result for a KTM rider in Le Mans since he was in eighth in 2017.
10. On pole position last year, Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) has qualified in 14th, which is his best qualifying since he joined KTM this year.