- 2019-05-19
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ MotoGP French: Marc Marquez Takes Pole Position in Mixed Weather at Le Mans
The Round 5 on MotoGP 2019, SHARK Helmets Grand Prix ran Qualifying at Le Mans on May 18, 2019.
The weather was strange, each rider struggled to choose wet or slick tyres.
Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) took pole position, despite he fell down at the fourth corner.
Behind him, two Ducatis, the works bike of Danilo Petrucci and the satellite Pramac-run machine of Jack Miller, took the second and third position each.
Fellow Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso will be the first bike on the second row, joined by the Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Franco Morbidelli.
Especially, Valentino Rossi advanced to Q2 from Q1, where he got an advantage from using slick tyres against his Q1 rivals took on the wet compound.
Previous Round podium, Maverick Viñales (Monster Yamaha) and Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) will start at the fourth row and 7th row respectively.
Marc Marquez said, “I always say that the race starts on Saturday. The weekend starts on Friday, but on Saturday qualifying is really important in MotoGP because if you start at the front then you can manage the tyres and the risk in a different way.
It was a difficult qualifying because it was not only about the speed, it was about the strategy and being smart, understanding the track conditions. When I went out I saw that we made the correct decision to start [Qualifying 2] with wet tyres. Then immediately I saw the light rain was becoming heavier, so I pushed and it was enough to be on pole.
The strategy was to push a little bit on that lap, then give everything on the next lap. But when I gave everything, the first three corners were very good but at the fourth corner I fell down!
Now we will see what happens with the weather tomorrow. We hope it will either be a dry or wet race because if it's like today it's so difficult. With this light rain the track becomes very slippery and it's very difficult to choose the tyres.
But it looks like we are able to be fast in any conditions and this is the most important for the championship.”
Danilo Petrucci said, “Qualifying today was really difficult because the condition of the track was really difficult to understand, the track wasn’t really wet and it wasn’t really dry,” began the factory rider. “The strategy made by my team was really good, starting immediately and trying to push at the beginning and it was good because the track was in good condition at the beginning. Lap by lap it was getting worse and I'm happy it was my target to start from the first two rows. I missed the pole position again but I’m really happy for today. The good thing is that we are fast in both conditions. I think we can fight for the podium but we have to understand how it will be tomorrow. But starting from the first row is a big help for me.”
Jack Miller said, “It was good, we worked hard all weekend. In FP1 we really did a lot of laps on used tyres and tried to manage it the best I could. Felt really good so whether it’s wet conditions tomorrow or dry, I feel we’ve got good speed in both. We’ll just do the maximum we can, we’ve got a great starting position and I think we can really take it to the guys. Last year we finished fourth so this year we’re looking to go one better and put it on the podium – wet or dry.”
SHARK Helmets Grand Prix de France Qualifying Results- Marc Marquez / Repsol Honda / 1m 40.952s
- Danilo Petrucci / Ducati Team / 1m 41.312s
- Jack Miller / Pramac Ducati / 1m 41.366s
- Andrea Dovizioso / Ducati Team / 1m 41.552s
- Valentino Rossi / Monster Yamaha / 1m 41.655s
- Franco Morbidelli / Petronas Yamaha SRT / 1m 41.681s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / 1m 42.059s
- Jorge Lorenzo / Repsol Honda / 1m 42.067s
- Aleix Espargaro / Factory Aprilia Gresini / 1m 42.450s
- Fabio Quartararo / Petronas Yamaha SRT / 1m 42.509s
- Maverick Viñales / Monster Yamaha / 1m 42.555s
- Pol Espargaro / Red Bull KTM Factory / No TIme
- Francesco Bagnaia / Pramac Ducati / 1m 39.982s
- Johann Zarco / Red Bull KTM Factory / 1m 40.029s
- Cal Crutchlow / LCR Honda / 1m 40.114s
- Miguel Oliveira / Red Bull KTM Tech3 / 1m 40.385s
- Karel Abraham / Reale Avintia Ducati / 1m 40.482s
- Joan Mir / Suzuki Ecstar / 1m 40.606s
- Alex Rins / Suzuki Ecstar / 1m 40.706s
- Tito Rabat / Reale Avintia Ducati / 1m 41.351s
- Hafizh Syahrin / Red Bull KTM Tech3 / 1m 41.717s
- Andrea Iannone / Factory Aprilia Gresini / 1m 41.786s
- source : MotoGP
