There were mixed feelings for Repsol Honda today at Le Mans, with Marc Marquez emerging second-best from a demanding qualifying session and Dani Pedrosa forced to settle for 11th place after slipping off at turn 4 halfway through the session.

Marquez had found quite a good pace in the morning FP3 session, and he struggled to match that speed in his first run in qualifying. However, the Spaniard put in a couple of very fast laps during his second exit and finished in a strong second position behind pole-man Jorge Lorenzo.

Pedrosa was unfortunate to suffer a small crash after completing his first flying lap and so losing precious time and the chance to improve his lap time enough to do better than 11th.

Tomorrow’s warm-up session starts at 9:40 a.m. local time, when both riders will have the chance to finalize the details before the race takes off at 2 p.m.

Marc Marquez - 2nd 1'32.416

“I was able to set a good lap today, but it wasn’t perfect. At first with the new tyre I found it hard to get the same feeling I had with used tyres and the bike moved about a lot when I tried to push more. At the end I changed my riding style a little and set two pretty good laps that helped me to fulfil my main objective, which was to get on the front row. I think the pace that I have isn’t bad, and in the last free practice I felt comfortable, although I’m still not quite as fast as Jorge [Lorenzo]. We’ll see what weather we have tomorrow and what the track temperature is for the race, and try to manage things as best we can.”

Dani Pedrosa - 11th 1'33.109

“Well I’m obviously disappointed with today’s result, my worst qualifying this year. There isn’t much to say; I lost the front and crashed out with my first bike and I couldn’t complete my second flying lap. With the second bike, I didn't have the same feeling and I wasn’t able to improve my time. Anyway, my race pace may not be the best but it’s not the worst either so tomorrow we’ll try to make the right tyre choice and to start the race well.”




1   - LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'31.975
2   - MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'32.416
3   - IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'32.469
4   - ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'32.502
5   - DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'32.587
6   - SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'32.820
7   - ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1'32.829
8   - VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1'32.933
9   - CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda Honda 1'32.963
10 - PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1'33.102
11 - PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'33.109
12 - ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1'33.115
13 - BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'33.291
14 - REDDING Scott 45 GBR Octo Pramac Racing Ducati 1'33.310
15 - HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 1'33.360
16 - LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati 1'33.452
17 - BRADL Stefan 6 GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'34.003
18 - MILLER Jack 43 AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'34.049
19 - BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1'34.333
20 - RABAT Tito 53 SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 1'34.348
21 - BAZ Loris 76 FRA Avintia Racing Ducati 1'34.455