Pole potential for the Repsol Honda Team in France

The most dramatic qualifying of the year brought the Repsol Honda team an emotional roller coaster ride as both Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro battled for pole position.

Rain shortly before the start of Free Practice 3 meant that the participants for the second quarter were already determined. Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro kept their places in the top ten. The weather would determine a large part of the action on Saturday, as sporadic showers kept the Le Mans circuit damp throughout the day. But in conditions that showed no sign of relaxation, the Repsol Honda Team pair worked diligently throughout the day.

The morning’s wet conditions suited Marc Marquez well, who was able to show his speed without straining his rejuvenating body. Marquez’s performance in Free Practice 3 led him to finish the penultimate practice in the lead. This was the first practice he has conducted since warming up at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix.

The crashes of Pol Espargaro (Turn 3) and Marc Marquez (Turn 9) at the end of the fourth RP were expertly handled by both sides of the Repsol Honda team garage. Despite their crashes, none of the riders missed a second of the second quarter. What followed was the most exciting Q2 session of the season so far. It quickly became clear that slicks would be the right tire for the session, with most of the field switching immediately. Marc Marquez put together an impressive run in the 15 minutes to plunge into the battle for pole. A return to the front row of the eight-time world champion appeared to be set when it rained again at Le Mans, but a late lap of laps dropped Marquez to sixth on the grid. This is his best starting position since his return to Portugal.

Pol Espargaro was equally spectacular in the second quarter. He joined his teammate in the battle for pole and temporarily formed a Honda front row alongside Takaaki Nakagami in the final minutes of the second quarter. Unfortunately, in a second crash of the day, Espargaro will line up in eighth for Sunday’s race alongside the late advance of other riders. Eighth is Espargaro’s best qualifying performance so far as a Repsol Honda Team rider.

A revised Sunday schedule calls for the premier class morning warm-up to be postponed to 10:00 a.m. local time, but the French Grand Prix itself continues to start at 2:00 p.m. local time.