More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Fernandez flies to maiden Moto2™ pole in France

The rookie continues his roll, this time in qualifying, to head Bezzecchi and Roberts on Saturday

There’s something about Red Bull KTM Ajo rookies in 2021! Moto2™’s Raul Fernandez clinched his maiden intermediate class pole position thanks to a 1:50.135 in a damp Q2 at the SHARK Grand Prix de France, beating Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) to the top by over two tenths. Q1 graduate Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) completes the front row, the American pulling some pace out of the bag on Saturday after a difficult Day 1.

A dry Q1 saw Roberts, Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Simone Corsi and MV Agusta Forward Racing teammate Lorenzo Baldassarri earn themselves a shot at pole position in Q2, but a spanner was thrown in the works before the green light. Rain once again started to fall at Le Mans, but once more, it didn’t stay around for long. It was in the air and the surface was damp but tyre choice was far from cemented.

Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was out on slick tyres at first and his closest Free Practice challenger Raul Fernandez initially went out on wet tyres, then got a box call, but the Spaniard went straight back out on the wets. Roberts ran straight into the gravel at Turn 8 in some early drama too, as then Lowes pulled into pitlane for… wets.

On track meanwhile, Championship leader Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was the early pacesetter from Ogura, but there was plenty of drama to come. Ogura crashed unhurt on the exit of Turn 7, Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) went down at Turn 14 shortly afterwards and then Jorge Navarro (MB Conveyors Speed Up) was the next to crash at Turn 8. Raul Fernandez was just behind his compatriot and ran straight on too. Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Corsi were the next riders to crash as the field tried to find the limit.

All that while at the top, Roberts was provisional pole, but it didn’t last too long. Raul Fernandez pulled out 1.2s on the American with four and a half minutes to go, but the number 16 soon returned the favour to go back to P1 by 0.6s. Roberts improved his lap again thereafter to go a second clear of the competition, but Gardner was on a charge and was next to take over. Lowes, back out on the wets, moved himself into third in the meantime… but Raul Fernandez was lighting up the timing screens. This time round, it was seventh tenths in his pocket at the top.

With conditions continually improving, Roberts then slotted back into P2 as Gardner made a mistake in the third sector to end his hopes of a pole position. No such mistake came from his teammate. Raul Fernandez pulled out even more time to take over at the top once more, with Bezzecchi then shooting up the timesheets to slot into second. Roberts was demoted to third, but holds on to an impressive front row after a tougher Friday. And Raul Fernandez? No one had an answer for the Moto2™ rookie sensation and the young Spaniard claimed his first intermediate class pole position.

Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team) left it late to claim P4 in qualifying, his best of the year, and the Spaniard is joined by compatriot Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) on the second row. Gardner slipped down to P7 in the closing stages and was over a second adrift of his teammate after running wide at Turn 8 on his last lap.

Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP40) recovered from his big Friday crash to pick up a best Saturday result of the season in eighth, just ahead of his teammate Stefano Manzi. And Lowes? There’s work to do for the man second in the Championship after his worst Q2 of the season, the Brit starting down in 10th.

That’s it from a tricky Saturday at Le Mans, with the weather likely to change again on Sunday! Can the rookie hold on, or will it be another shuffle come race day? Find out at 12:20 (GMT +2) local time.

Moto2™ front row:

1 Raul Fernandez – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – 1:50.135

2 Marco Bezzecchi – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex – +0.240

3 Joe Roberts – Italtrans Racing Team – Kalex – +0.379

Raul Fernandez: “I’m very happy because yesterday was really difficult and today I had two practices in these conditions and I said please no… one maybe ok but two is more difficult! But I’m happy because in FP3 and qualifying was good, the feeling wasn’t the best but I was on top and that’s the most important. Tomorrow we’ll see!”

More, from a press release issued by Italtrans Racing:

Third position and first row for Joe Roberts at Le Mans.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta will start 21st.

From Spain to France. This weekend the MotoGP World Championship stop at the historic 24 Hours Circuit for the fifth round of the season.

Two weeks on from the Spanish Grand Prix, and having rested and recovered, Italtrans Racing Team is hungry for more at the French GP after a good top ten for Joe Roberts and a race close to the points for Lorenzo Dalla Porta.

A weekend with uncertain weather conditions and a mixed track, which did not stop the hard work of the team in search of the best set up in view of tomorrow’s race.

With a great pace since the free practices, but with several fast laps cancelled due to yellow flags, Joe Roberts was forced to pass from Q1, where he recorded the best time in dry conditions. The American rider set the pace in a wet Q2 too, showing his good feeling with the French track: with a best lap of 1’50”514 he reached the third position on the grid and tomorrow he will start the French GP from the first row.

Dalla Porta didn’t make it thru Q1 with a time of 1’37”231 in wet conditions, finishing 21st the qualifying. Now the Tuscan rider, together with the team, will continue the work to shorten the gap.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta

21° | 1’37”231

“It’s certainly not the position I wanted, but yesterday’s practice went wrong: I was almost 2 seconds behind and we had to make several changes. The weather didn’t help us and today it’s the best I could do. Now we keep on working for tomorrow. The feeling with the bike is good and I can make a comeback race”.

Joe Roberts

3° | 1’50”514

“The weather made this weekend really crazy: on Friday a series of crashes and the yellow flags cancelled my best laps, so I was at the bottom of the standings. We worked hard and today I made a great time in Q1, continuing with the excellent pace in the wet of Q2. I’m very happy with the front row and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race: I feel strong in both conditions”.

Giovanni Sandi, Technical Director

“Good qualifying for Joe. Actually, Di Giannantonio slowed him down, otherwise we could have been in pole position: in fact, the ideal time sees us as first. Anyway, we are on the front row and we had a better day after yesterday’s yellow flags. We are ready for both a wet and dry race. Lorenzo struggled more with the conditions, but we are working to make him comfortable”.

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Home run: Quartararo takes Le Mans by storm to pip Viñales to pole

The first factory Yamaha team 1-2 since 2017 heads Miller on the front row as qualifying goes down to the wire in France

Saturday, 15 May 2021

Rain, shine, or something in between? Saturday at the SHARK Grand Prix de France presented quite a challenge for the MotoGP™ grid, but the final few minutes of Q2 eventually delivered a stunning shootout for pole on a dry track. And who came out on top? Home hero Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), the Frenchman taking back-to-back poles at Le Mans to pip teammate Maverick Viñales to the top and make it a factory Yamaha team 1-2 on the grid for the first time since 2017. Third went to Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), the Jerez winner just a tenth off pole.

In Q1, a drying track made it anyone’s game and there were a few spills, some thrills and definitely a couple of surprises. Crashing early on despite his impressive pace in a damp FP3, Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was jogging back to the pits as the rest got down to really testing out the conditions… but there was a real phoenix moment on the way.

As the track improved more and more, so did the laptimes at the top. But none more than Savadori. The Italian was back out and flexing his wet weather prowess once again as the clock ticked down, and crossing the line the Italian topped the session by a whopping eight tenths of a second. From whom? Fellow rookie Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia). Tagged on to the back of Championship leader and compatriot Francesco Bagnaia, Marini improved and then improved again on his final push to top the session, just before Savadori’s final wonder.

The two rookies moved through then, leaving Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) just knocked out by his teammate, as well as reigning Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) next up and his teamma Alex Rins. Championship leader Bagnaia? He’ll be 16th on the grid…

And so Q2 began, with no more rain having come down. Decisions needed to be made for the Q2 runners at the beginning of the pole position fight, and we witnessed Valentino Rossi and Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate Franco Morbidelli gamble on slick tyres. Had they taken inspiration from fellow VR46 Acadamy rider Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) after his stunning Moto3™ qualifying gamble?

It looked like the Petronas Yamaha SRT squad had made the right call as Miller, Quartararo and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) pulled straight back in to switch. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and Savadori were also all on slicks, but Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) wasn’t and was soon on his way back to pitlane for a tyre change – as was Viñales.

By then, the riders on slick tyres were lighting up the timing screens. Rossi was out of the seat at the final corner; his lap was ruined and Morbidelli eclipsed Zarco’s best wet tyre lap, but then Miller demolished them all to go 1.2s quicker than anyone. Pol Espargaro slotted into an early P2 as Quartararo and Savadori clocked into P3 and P4, Morbidelli next to improve to move back up to second. Incredibly though, Miller then cut his best by a second again, and Pol Espargaro once more came through as the Aussie’s closest challenger.

It was far from over. Everyone was constantly improving, and Zarco briefly went provisional pole, Miller beat him by nine tenths and then Pol Espargaro finally demoted Miller to second by 0.157s. Marc Marquez then joined his teammate on the front row with four minutes to go, and Nakagami made it three Hondas in the top four for the time being.

Morbidelli hit back next for second, but not for long. Marc Marquez beat teammate Pol Espargaro by 0.113s, before Nakagami split the two to make it a Honda 1-2-3… and rain then started to fall at Turn 1. It looked like the three HRC men had timed their laps to perfection, but no. Suddenly, Viñales and Zarco set red sectors, before Quartararo did too.

Viñales was the first to cross the line and break Repsol Honda hearts to grab provisional pole position off Marc Marquez, Zarco then took second and Morbidelli also got the better of the number 93’s time. Quartararo was the rider to watch though and, laying it all on the line in the final sector, it was going down to Yamaha vs Yamaha for pole. Could he hold on? he could. El Diablo beat his teammate’s time by 0.081s, and a shadowing Miller came through to snatched a late front row as well.

The first factory Yamaha 1-2 since 2017, when a certain Viñales went on to win, joined by the most recent race winner?  Another stellar Saturday that – for the third time in a row – belonged to Quartararo. Arm pump surgery to home GP pole is the story of his last couple of weeks, that’s two in a row for Quartararo at Le Mans to boot.

Morbidelli and Zarco’s final flying laps ensure they have solid grid positions for the French GP, in fourth and fifth, with Marc Marquez left down on the outside of the second row by the end of the shuffle. Nakagami and Pol Espargaro – who suffered a late crash at Turn 7 – will also have to settle for les than it seemed had been promised, taking P7 and P8 respectively.

Rossi was able to better his time on the last lap to earn P9 and his best grid position since the season opener with Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the top 10, despite a crash, ahead of Q1 graduates Savadori and Marini. With Bagnaia and the Suzukis looking for quick progress too… Sunday promises plenty.

A French GP qualifying session for the ages, with a Frenchman on pole again. What will Sunday bring? 14:00 local time (GMT+2) is when we’ll find out, with Ducati primed with their holeshot devices, the skies uncertain… and history at stake once again.

MotoGP™ front row

1 Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – 1:32.600

2 Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +0.081

3 Jack Miller – Ducati Lenovo Team – Ducati – +0.104

Top Independent Team rider

4 Franco Morbidelli – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – +0.166

Fabio Quartararo: “It feels amazing, because I was so nervous before QP, before it was the first time I was gonna to use medium rear and thought it would be difficult, but on the out lap it was dry and I thought straight away I needed to go back into pitlane, we had a strategy. And then on the last lap I thought… ok, crash or front row. In the last sector I pushed myself to the limit. I didn’t even know I had pole before I arrived here. I saw three bikes in here and thought, ah that’s a shame, I didn’t make it on the front row… that was before I saw my mechanics! But so happy to get pole two years in a row at my home GP.”