MotoGP, a very tight qualifying at Le Mans
Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) with his 1’29.634 took pole position for the Le Mans French Grand Prix of MotoGP, beating by just 12 hundredths his teammate Marc Marquez (Ducati), by 23 the world championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) and by 65 Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati VR46). A very tight MotoGP qualifying: let’s find out what were the strengths and weaknesses of each of the four favorites for Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s race.
Where did Bagnaia build the pole?
The new Ducati fairing helped Bagnaia to bring more speed into corner entry and a small setup change solved the rear lift problem on braking he had encountered in the first Q2 attempt.
In T1 Bagnaia was the only one able to go under 18.7 twice, a sign of an excellent Ducati on fast curves. Finally, Pecco has a very solid race pace, as also shown by his average time in FP2.
Marquez, what a torment in T4
Consistency is Marc Marquez’s weak point in these first two days at Le Mans. The Spaniard was able to go down to 1’29.288 and set the track record in Q1, but was unable to repeat it in Q2. It is no coincidence that the reigning world champion himself admitted not knowing how that lap time was achieved. Marquez’s troubles are mainly concentrated in T4, especially with the soft front tire: if he forces the entry he loses the line for the last two corners.
What emerges from the data is that #93 is overdriving the front to compensate for a difficulty, losing precision on the trajectory.
In that section Marquez is not consistent, and it is no coincidence that Turn 13 and Turn 14 are two right-hand bends in quick succession: the physical effort is felt on a shoulder still not in optimal condition. The more the shoulder tires, the more Marquez risks struggling to be precise and the long 27-lap Sunday race – if it does not rain – could prove a big obstacle for physical endurance.
In T2 Marquez was however able to make good use of the tight direction changes.
Bezzecchi lurking
The world championship leader Marco Bezzecchi is there just a breath away, a sign of an Aprilia now competitive on every track. In T3 Bez manages to shine, compensating for the lack of stability on braking with a higher cornering speed. He suffers on straight bike braking, typical of T2: when grip drops, his times rise more than Bagnaia’s (a trend visible in FP2). It will be here that the Aprilia MotoGP team will be called to work to give Bezzecchi a bike capable of winning.
Di Giannantonio, the spark was missing
Diggia with his Ducati was not as explosive as Bagnaia in T1, but showed a great fluidity in T2 and T3, a characteristic that brought him a blink away from the front row. He was not able to close the perfect lap, but showed great consistency both in Friday’s PR and Saturday morning’s FP2. In particular in T2 and T3 he was always among the best. And tire wear can be his ally: FP2 times show a very contained time drop.
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