HJC Helmets Grand Prix De France

FIM MotoGP World Championship

Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans, France

May 20, 2017

Qualifying Results (all on Michelin tires):

From Qualifying Session Two:

1. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:31.994

2. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:32.100

3. Johann ZARCO, France (YAMAHA), 1:32.229

4. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:32.300

5. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:32.493

6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:32.726

7. Scott REDDING, UK (DUCATI), 1:33.119

8. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (KTM), 1:33.399

9. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:33.517

10. Bradley SMITH, UK (KTM), 1:33.629

11. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:33.756

12. Loris BAZ, France (DUCATI), 1:33.955

From Qualifying Session One:

13. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:32.415

14. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:32.484

15. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (YAMAHA), 1:32.695

16. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (DUCATI), 1:32.830

17. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUZUKI), 1:32.844

18. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (APRILIA), 1:33.187

19. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:33.231

20. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:33.233

21. Sam LOWES, UK (APRILIA), 1:33.817

22. Tito RABAT, Spain (HONDA), 1:33.875

23. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (SUZUKI), 1:34.082

More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:

Heroic Zarco seals front row start for Home GP

Monster Yamaha Tech3 team rider Johann Zarco sent his home crowd wild with a superb qualifying performance to clinch 3rd on the grid for the Grand Prix de France tomorrow. The local hero produced the ride of the day after challenging in Q1, where he notably completed ten high-speed laps without pitting, as he snatched entrance to Qualifying 2 in the final moments. Then in Q2, he stormed to his impressive time at the end of the session to complete an all-Yamaha front row and seal his first top three qualifying position in the premier class.

Meanwhile, Jonas Folger will kick off the 5th round of the Championship from 15th on the grid after a determined display in qualifying. Despite a big fall in FP4, the young German picked himself up to bravely contest in Q1. Here, he built up his pace and eventually powered across the finish line to seal the fifth-row start, yet his lap time would have placed him on the second row of the grid in Q2. Nevertheless, tomorrow he intends to undertake a rocket start and then obtain a strong result at the Tech3 team’s home Grand Prix.

Johann ZARCO

Position: 3rd – Time: 1’32.229 – Laps: 6

“The result is fantastic and I am delighted to qualify on the front row for my home race, even if I didn’t expect it. Before the qualifying, I was a bit nervous because of my fall this morning, but I ran a decent pace in FP4 which gave me my confidence back. Then in Q1, I was able to improve my time in the final run and I went on to finish in P2, which was great. After that, in Qualifying 2, I only had one rear tyre that I could use so I waited for a bit, but I watched the pace of my opponents and this encouraged me because I knew that I could do a good job. Eventually, both sessions went really well for me and now I will enjoy this moment because the fans were superb today and they want a podium tomorrow but so do I. Yet, being fast this afternoon gives me the confidence for this, plus the bike was perfect today and the team did a good job. In the race, I plan to stay with the top guys but you have to be calm in order to be fast here in Le Mans so I need to control my emotions and be strong at the start. Then I will fight and hopefully get a podium and if I achieve this, it will be truly awesome.”

Jonas FOLGER

Position: 15th – Time: 1’32.695 – Laps: 8

“It was a strange day and I think that maybe I was a bit unlucky because my personal best was positive and when we compare the results, you can see that my time would have put me in 6th. This is a shame but anyway Johann made it into Q2 and set a really good lap and we can see that the Yamaha suits this track very well, so even if I was a bit unlucky today, nothing is lost for tomorrow. I had a small crash in FP4 and this made me lose some confidence but fortunately, I am ok and I still did my best in Q1. Now I have to prepare for the race where I aim to undertake a solid start and then I will ride a consistent pace so that I can gain a lot of positions and finish my team’s home Grand Prix strongly.”

More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS:

Courageous comeback by Miller in troubled Le Mans qualifying

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller staged a courageous comeback to qualify 11th for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix at the legendary Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans.

A remarkable recovery saw Miller take his place in the Q2 qualifying session following a scary crash at turn two in FP4. Earlier Miller had been impressively third fastest in variable conditions in FP3.

Miller’s dramatic exit from FP4 came after losing control of his Honda RC213V and making heavy impact with a trackside barrier.

After a medical check a shaken Miller took his place in Q2 on his spare bike despite the discomfort of football-size swelling on his right knee and bruised right hand.

Those injuries contributed to a second but harmless tumble at the final corner when he was set to improve his time in the final moments of qualifying.

Miller had topped the timesheets in variable damp and drying conditions in Friday practice and with treatment at the Clinica Mobile is confident of recovering for a strong performance in the race.

For Tito Rabat the tight confines and stop-go character of the Le Mans track have provided challenges in his preparation for tomorrow’s fifth round of the MotoGP World Championship.

But the Spaniard is determined to fight for a points scoring finish in the 28-lap race at the 4.18km Bugatti Circuit.

Jack Miller: 11th – 1’33.756

“I was happy to get back on the bike for qualifying after not feeling 100% after the crash in FP4. It was a nasty crash and I’m lucky to walk away with just some bruises. I had some locking on the front through turn one which sent me towards the wall and when I saw I wasn’t going to stop in time I let go before I hit the wall. In Q2 I went quicker on my first run but my hand was not perfect after the crash and I struggled to stop the bike on the brakes in the final corner and touched the kerb. A shame but I’ll be ready for the race after I get some ice on my hand and knee to get the swelling down.”

Tito Rabat: 22nd – 1’33.875

“It has been very difficult conditions, not only this track layout but the weather with rain and then half-wet, half-dry surface in free practice. Even in qualifying there were a couple of spots of rain but I made a good improvement to set my fastest time. I had a couple of moments and almost crashed on the second run but without many laps on a dry track I think it is OK. Now I am focussing on making a good race.”

Michael Bartholemy – Team Principal

“After the crash in FP4 I wasn’t sure that Jack would be able to get back on the bike for qualifying but after a medical check he went out showed how tough he is and how much he wanted to be on the grid. I know he is disappointed to be 11th on the fourth row but I am happy for this result after his big crash. For Tito this circuit with all the changes of direction and braking is not easy and a little frustrating but I know he is aiming for a good result in the race.”

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia Gresini:

SIXTH AND SEVENTH ROW FOR APRILIA IN THE FRENCH GP

A CRASH IN THE DECISIVE LAP PUTS THE BRAKES ON ALEIX ESPARGARÓ’S AMBITIONS

SAM LOWES IMPROVES, JUST MISSING Q2 IN FREE PRACTICE, EARNING A SPOT ON THE SEVENTH ROW

Aleix Espargaró went into the Q1 session which decides the order of the starting grid for the French GP, fortified by a nice result in the free practice session. In fact, in FP4, the session just ahead of the qualifiers, the Spaniard had finished with a nice ninth place just a few tenths from the leader and right behind his direct rivals. Shortly thereafter, he would have made a play to go through to Q2, which decides the first four rows of the grid.

Instead, a crash (harmless for the rider) put him out of the games in the decisive lap that he was on after mounting the new tyre in the hopes of improving his placement. So Aleix had to settle for the eighth best time (1’33.187) he had already made, which places him on the sixth row with the 18th best overall time. There is plenty of regret for this lost chance. In a hypothetical Q2, a good qualifying time would have permitted Aleix to start as far forward as the third row.

Sam Lowes demonstrated clear progress in the last two free practice sessions, particularly in FP3 where he missed the tenth place time by just 34 thousandths, a placement that would have passed him directly through to Q2. In qualifying, a crash slowed him down a few laps from the end, but he was still able to improve, finishing 21st with a time of 1’33.817 which places him on the seventh row.

ALEIX ESPARGARO’

“In the first morning session I didn’t risk. In those conditions it was easy to make mistakes that would have then conditioned our weekend. In FP4 in the dry I felt good, both in terms of time and pace, whereas in qualifying I made a stupid mistake. It’s a pity to have to start so far back, but I am sure that the race will be fun tomorrow. We can make a play for it with many of the riders ahead of us.”

SAM LOWES

“We are continuing in the right direction. I was rather competitive all day. I just missed going through to Q2 and overall I had good sensations in the saddle. We did not make any big changes. We are simply continuing our work and the results are starting to come. Qualifying did not go terribly well, but the level in MotoGP is extremely high. They are 15 very tight minutes where you have to be perfect. We are ready for the race. The goal is a concrete result and bringing home my first points.”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

YAMAHA FILLS FRONT ROW AFTER FRENCH QUALIFYING

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi showed a competitive pace on the second day of the Grand Prix de France, taking a superb first and second place respectively in today‘s qualifying session.

Le Mans (France), 20th May 2017

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi went all out in an intense 15-minute qualifying session at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit today, that saw the teammates secure the first two slots on the front row for tomorrow’s Grand Prix de France.

Having topped FP4, Viñales stepped aboard his YZR-M1 with great confidence at the start of the qualifying session. As one of the last men to leave pit lane, he enjoyed some free track space and went directly on the attack. He took the top spot with his first flying lap, a 1’33.134s, before being pushed back to sixth place when the pace quickened.

With more than seven and a half minutes to go, he came into the pits for a fresh set of rubber. Two minutes later the Spaniard was back on track, now in seventh place in the timings, and had just enough time left for three more hot laps. He put his mind to it and produced a strong 1‘32.146s for provisional pole, but further underlined his incredible speed with a 1‘31.994s on his next lap, that earned him his second pole position of the season.

Rossi also flexed his muscles during the 15-minute shoot-out. He was quick to head out to make the most of the time available, but decided to let some chasing riders pass at the end of his first hot lap. He moved up to second place on his third attempt, before heading back to the box with six minutes remaining.

The Italian continued his efforts one and a half minute later, setting another personal best lap that moved him up from fourth to second, despite having to avoid a crash from Jack Miller that happened right in front of him. The Doctor still had some time left for a final push, and improved his time to a 1’32.100s, to keep a strong hold on second place, ahead of Johann Zarco, who made it a full Yamaha front row.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

Today worked out perfectly for the team. It‘s been a really challenging day, from FP3 until the very end of Q2, due to the condition of the track, which was constantly changing lap by lap, but all for the better. All of today‘s sessions were really exciting. The new tarmac provides very good grip, which perfectly suits our bike and both our riders have done a great job to exploit this advantage to the fullest. They have been fast and consistent in all the sessions and today‘s results give us a lot of confidence for tomorrow‘s race, but saying that, we still have some areas where we can improve. The tyre choice remains a question mark, because the conditions over the last two days haven‘t allowed us to complete a proper comparison amongst all the options. For this reason, the warm up will be extremely important. We will start the race from the best position on the grid, in first and second place, and today Zarco made it an all-Yamaha front row.

MAVERICK VIÑALES

It was a tricky qualifying, because the track was not at its best, but anyway our bike is really good here. We knew we could do it, so I just tried to concentrate and push to the best of my ability and bring home the pole position. We have to be really careful with the weather, we also have to pay a lot of attention if we have a flag to flag, a wet race or even on the dry, we still have to improve. We have to work tonight and try to improve for tomorrow.

VALENTINO ROSSI

I‘m so happy, because today was the first practice in the dry, so you never know. We modified the setting a bit, and that, together with this track and this asphalt, makes our bike work well. In the end it was a really good qualifying, I think on the first flying lap I was fast, but I reached Jack a bit too early, so I lost a bit of time. It’s a shame for missing out on the pole position, but starting from second place is OK for the race.

More, from a press release issued by Pull&Bear Ducati:

Abraham to line up on third row of the grid

Pull & Bear Aspar rider qualified directly for Q2, where he finished ninth. His teammate Álvaro Bautista came within touching distance of Q2 and will line up fourteenth

Johann Zarco is enjoying his first home Grand Prix in the MotoGP class, the Frenchman set to start from the front row at Le Mans tomorrow for the first time in this class. Only factory riders Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi will be ahead of Zarco on the grid, the Spaniard taking his second pole in the category with a time of 1’31.994, making him the only rider capable of breaking the 1’32 barrier. Cal Crutchlow, Marc Márquez and Andrea Dovizioso will start from the second row, with Dani Pedrosa on the fifth and Jorge Lorenzo on the sixth. Pull & Bear Aspar rider Karel Abraham earned himself a spot on the third row of the grid after setting the ninth fastest time in Q2.

The Czech rider, who went through directly to Q2 after finishing sixth in the final free practice, hoped to have been able to lower his time by a little more than half a second, but he is still satisfied with ninth place on the grid for the Grand Prix de France. This is the second time this season that Abraham has made it into Q2, after sealing second place on the grid in Argentina. His teammate Alvaro Bautista was not so lucky and narrowly missed out on Q2 on two occasions. The first, on the combined free practice times, saw him finish just 0.016 seconds outside the top ten that gain direct access to Q2. In Q1 he was 0.117 thousandths shy of making Q2.

9th Karel Abraham 1:33.517: “I’m happy with the result although I was hoping to go for a 1’32.9 this afternoon and the best we could manage was a couple of 33.5s. Anyway, this morning was like yesterday – first rain, then dry so we could use slick tyres in the end. It wasn’t easy to keep the concentration and not make a mistake but it worked out and I was sixth fastest, which was great. I moved straight into Q2 so in FP4 we could try something different, but it didn’t work out. In qualifying I didn’t have a good feeling at the start but towards the end it got constantly better, I managed to make the 33.5, which is a decent lap time and P9 is amazing. It’s a great start for tomorrow, I’m just a little disappointed we didn’t make that extra half second up because I felt a 32.9 was possible. So now I need to look at the data and talk to my guys to see why that didn’t happen.”

14th Álvaro Bautista 1:32.484: “The level in was incredible. With my time I could have been on the front two rows of the grid. It’s hard to make a quick lap but today we’ve been very close to going to Q2 and then only five riders actually beat my Q1 lap, but the reality is that we start from the 14th position. The goal tomorrow will be, above all, to finish the race and continue to gain confidence. We know we have potential, like we showed in Jerez, but if you do not finish you can not get a good result. This morning the conditions were quite difficult, the track was quite wet, but we came out with slick tyres to try to get into Q2, even though it was taking a lot of risks. We didn’t make Q2, but I was hoping to be competitive in the afternoon to try. In FP4 we worked well, in the dry for the first time. I felt comfortable, with good rhythm, and I finished close to the front, in sixth position.”

More, from a press release issued by Octo Pramac Racing:

Fantastic Saturday for Scott who first dominates the FP3 then ends up 7th in qualifying. Petrux 19°.

Scott Redding gives great emotions on Saturday’s qualifying for the Grand Prix de France that will see him starting seventh tomorrow. For Danilo Petrucci a disappointing qualifying after the good feelings of the free practices.

Scott puts on a show in the FP3 ended up with the fastest lap-time. Even in Q2, the sensations were extremely positive: in the first run Scott records his quickest time of 1’33.119 despite a bit of traffic on track. In the second time attack, however, after having taken a big pace in the first two sectors, a slide with no consequence did not allow him to gain additional positions. Scott will start tomorrow from the third row.

Feelings were very positive for Danilo Petrucci too. After having missed direct qualifying to Q2 for only 68 milliseconds, Petrux has lapped convincingly in the FP4. In Q1, however, the rider of Fiamme Oro had to deal with a unexpected chattering problem that did not allow him to qualify despite the time of 1’33.231 that in Q2 would be worth eighth position.

19th – Danilo Petrucci – 1’33.231

“It was not my best day in qualifying. To be honest this is the worst qualifying since I’m with Pramac. I lost the Q2 for a few milliseconds and in Q1 the competition was really very strong. The problem is that after the FP4 I started to have great chattering problems, especially with soft rubber. Tomorrow I will have to make another comeback, but it will be very difficult starting from the seventh row”.

7th – Scott Redding – 1’33.119

“I think the Jerez test gave me confidence. In these first two days we went very well both in mixed and dry conditions. I’m also happy about how things went in the FP4 where I tried to work on the race pace. The qualifying weere very good. In the second run I tried to push but I started to feel a bit of chattering on the front. The lap-time was very good but unfortunately I crashed. I could have done at least the second row but that’s fine”.

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More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:

CRUTCHLOW TO START FROM SECOND ROW IN FRANCE

LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow narrowly missed out on a place on the front row for Sunday’s French Grand Prix after a thrilling day of MotoGP qualifying at Le Mans. The Briton maintained his impressive level of performance this season as he claimed fourth place on the grid and finished Saturday’s action as the leading Honda rider in the premier class.

With wet weather once again complicating matters at the famous French circuit, Crutchlow went second fastest in FP3 on a drying track – just behind compatriot Scott Redding. The LCR Honda man carried that form into qualifying itself and was on pole with a couple of minutes of the session remaining. But in a frantic finish, factory Yamaha riders, Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi, claimed first and second spots respectively, while home favourite Johann Zarco edged out Crutchlow in the battle for third, with Marc Marquez forced to settle for fifth position.

Crutchlow conceded he was disappointed to miss out on a front row start, but feels he’s well-placed to fight for the podium places in Sunday’s race.

Cal Crutchlow – 4th

(1’32.300 – lap 8 of 8)

“It was a decent day. It’s been a difficult and strange weekend so far as we haven’t had hardly any dry track time and even in qualifying the track wasn’t completely dry and in great shape. We did a good job as a team, but I made a sloppy lap at the end when I made some mistakes and I was disappointed to end up on the second row”.

“I feel quite good ahead of the race. But as you can see, at the moment it’s quite hard to be as competitive as the Yamaha, and the Honda takes a bit more setting up around this track. Hopefully tonight the engineers can work their magic and tomorrow we will be really competitive because, when we do get it right, we’re very, very fast. I’m looking forward to that and hopefully it will be a good day for us tomorrow.

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Marquez and Pedrosa fast but out of luck in French qualifying

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow’s French GP from the fifth and 13th places on the grid, respectively, despite both being quite fast during the course of the day.

Marc’s progression in his work to find the best setup has been affected by the limited dry track time and by two small crashes, in FP4 and in QP2, though both incidents were without consequence.

After solving some setup issues in the morning’s damp-but-drying FP3 session, preventing him from gaining direct passage into Q2, Dani was very fast in FP4, ending a close second. He was able to keep up his speed in QP1 but ultimately lost his provisional second place to Johann Zarco by just 48 thousandths of a second. He therefore had to settle for a fifth-row spot despite the fact that his QP1 lap time would have placed him on the second row.

The Repsol Honda pair look forward to making use of the tomorrow’s warm-up to finalize the last details of their setup before the race, which will start at 2 p.m. local time.

Marc Marquez 93

5TH 1’32.493 (Q2)

“We knew this is a track where we normally struggle a bit more than at others, but anyway we’re not so far off. We’re not yet where we would like to be but we’ll work hard this evening checking the data and hopefully we’ll be able to get a bit closer in tomorrow’s warm-up. We’ve had just one completely dry session so far this weekend, so FP4 was like a normal FP1, and with the new tarmac and everything we needed more track time, more laps to set up the bike and to adapt the riding style. As for the crashes, I had both of them in the same corner: regarding the one in FP4, I was trying to find the limit, and as for the one in qualifying, we had changed the setup a little bit and I probably should have done that corner a little bit differently. I was prepared for it in view of my second exit but then I had a little problem with the second tyre and couldn’t do a perfect lap. Anyway, of course we’ll do our best in the race.”

Dani Pedrosa 26

13TH 1’32.415 (Q1)

“This weekend has been quite difficult in general, due to the weather that had us struggling with the tyre temperature. Then this morning during FP3 we had some little problems with the bike that meant I couldn’t improve my lap time and go directly to Q2. The FP4 session went quite well; we proved to have a good pace and that’s the positive part of today. It was the same way in Q1; we were fast but unfortunately just not enough to move through. Anyway, we must now think about tomorrow. We must be very focused on the start and in the first chicane, and we also must try and be quite aggressive in the first laps to recover positions. We’ll try our best and see where we end up.”

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Row 2 start in French GP for Andrea Dovizioso, sixth in qualifying at Le Mans. Jorge Lorenzo, sixth-quickest in Q1, will start from the sixth row

Andrea Dovizioso was sixth in this afternoon’s Q2 qualifying session at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit; thanks to his time of 1’32.726, the Italian will start the French GP, scheduled for 2 pm tomorrow at the legendary French track, from the second row of the grid.

In the morning’s FP3 session, which was held on a damp but gradually drying track, Dovizioso was unable to get into the top 10 and he had to make his way through Q1, which he finished in first place with a time of 1’32.298, thus gaining access to the successive Q2.

This morning Jorge Lorenzo could not establish a good feeling with the track conditions, and the Spanish rider also had to take part in the first qualifying run, which he finished in sixth; tomorrow Jorge will start the French GP from row 6 in sixteenth place.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’32.726 (6th)

“It’s been quite a complicated weekend but in the end, after missing out on the top 10 by just a few tenths this morning, I was able to set an excellent time in Q1 and then go sixth quickest and gain a row 2 start for tomorrow’s race. I’m optimistic because I think I have a good pace, even though it’s difficult to understand that of the other top riders. We know that our rivals will be very competitive but in any case we’ll try and stay with them.”

Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 1’32.830 (16th)

“Unfortunately the weather conditioned my practice and qualifying. With the rain I felt I was very competitive, but when I fitted slicks with the track partially damp, I wasn’t able to push hard because I didn’t feel safe enough. In Q1 there were a lot of really quick riders, and despite the fact that I set a good time, we weren’t able to get into Q2. Pity, because I feel sure that if I had had another 15 minutes available I could have dropped my lap time by three or four tenths, and I think that my real position in dry conditions is amongst the top eight riders. Now the only thing that I can do is use the warm-up tomorrow morning to improve the set-up of my bike and then try and make up positions in the race.”

More, from a press release issued Red Bull KTM:

BOTH KTM MOTOGP BIKES IN TOP 10 FOR FRENCH GRAND PRIX

QUALIFYING 5th Rd. MotoGP 2017 – Le Mans (FRA)

Under rain and sun at Le Mans, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team have had their best MotoGP qualifying today with both KTM RC16s inside the top 10 of the 23 man French Grand Prix grid. Moto2 took full advantage of the newly resurfaced track but on only their fifth race weekend, the KTM Moto2 motorcycle of Ricard Cardus just 0.8 seconds off a brand new outright lap record as he continues to stand in for the recovering Brad Binder who won this race last year en-route to his Moto3 World Title. In the Moto3 class six KTMs qualified inside the top 10; Nicolo Bulega just missing out pole by 0.031 seconds.

MotoGP

In only their fifth MotoGP race weekend of 2017 the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team have taken their best qualifying with an 8th and a 10th place for Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith after guaranteeing their place in the all important ‘Q2’ session following brave rides during a damp but drying Free Practice session this morning. Following the introduction of the new ‘Big Bang’ engine for the Jerez race and further developments tests afterwards, the spirits are high in the KTM garage as both KTM RC16 bikes start the French Grand Prix in the top half of the grid.

Espargaro: “Honestly I started quite strong as I tried to push from the beginning to see the limit of the bike because we didn’t have the opportunity during the weekend to feel what is the limit over one lap. I felt really good with the front feeling here but we’re missing just a little bit of balance that could maybe make some difference with the lap time…but anyway, I’m super happy with the team. For us, with the weather conditions, we never expected three races ago to be where we are now. Super happy for me as personally it’s a good improvement in my life on the bike, but also for KTM and the team; they’ve done an amazing job to be here.”

Smith: “To take the risks and have the confidence in the motorcycle this morning and then go straight through to Q2 was great for everybody in the garage. We never expected after five races that we would do such an achievement – the goal is always to improve but that was taking full advantage of the circumstances but also having the feeling and the confidence in the motorcycle to make it happen. This afternoon I felt that we did the best that we could. It’s quite tricky in these cooler conditions to make the medium front tyre work – we already improved 1.2 seconds from our test here (before Jerez) so we are venturing into new areas and new grounds again, but we’ve got plenty of data. I’m happy we’re on the fourth row for tomorrow as from there we have a good chance of a good start and then mixing it up with the fast guys because although we might not be able to stay there for the whole race, we’ll learn a lot more being with them and seeing what their motorcycles do, and that will help our development so I’m excited for that opportunity to get a good start, try and be in the mix and see where we are at the end. Such a great weekend and such a great day so we’ll give everyone a pat on the back for now with the focus on tomorrow.”

Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP): “Its really quite an overwhelming for us. I think it’s been a really big step for the project to see how things work out and to prove that we made steps forward at Jerez and that this is not a one off. Still we see potential to improve further and this makes us even happier to now face the race and see what else we can learn when we start from further up the grid being with other people and see how the pace can develop there. Anyway, we know what we need to work on and we are obviously not finished with that, but we will understand even better after the race and then hopefully make the next steps based on that.”

More, from a press release issued by Reale Avintia Racing:

Fourth row start for Loris Baz at his home race

Finally the sun was shining today and even though there were still some wet patches during the FP3 session, the MotoGP riders were able to test the new surface of the Le Mans new surface in dry conditions during the last free practice and the qualifying sessions. Reale Avintia Racing rider Loris Baz gave his best this morning and got the maximum from the mixed conditions to get through to Q2. After several fast laps, Baz finished ninth. He crashed in qualifying fighting to improve his lap times and he will start his home race tomorrow in twelfth place from the fourth row of the grid.

Reale Avintia Racing teammate Hector Barbera was not able to get into the second and final qualifying session. Although he finished tenth in Q1, he is optimistic about his pace for tomorrow’s 28-lap-race after a strong FP4.

Loris Baz | 1’33.955 | P12

“This morning everything went really well and we went straight to Q2. We knew that FP4 was going to be very important, because it was the first dry session of the weekend. But we had a small issue with the second bike and we were not able to get back on the track again. This forced us to start qualifying with something we did not test before on the front and it did not work. I went out again and my feeling was not great, but I tried to do a fast lap anyway and I crashed. Tomorrow we need to test another solution during the warm-up and this will be the key to be able to do a really good race or just a normal race.”

Hector Barbera | 1’33.233 | P20

“My position in qualifying was not the best, but at least I got a bit closer to the front runners. I finished just 0.4s from Lorenzo and very close to Petrucci, so I think that we have made a little step forward. The feeling with the bike has been better and I think this is due to the improvements made at the Jerez test. I still lack confidence, but I have a better feeling for the front. I want to say big thanks to my team, especially to my crew chief Jarno, and all the people that are supporting me because they never stopped believing in our ability to overcome our problems and make a decisive step. I want to reward them with a strong race tomorrow, because my pace in FP4 was quite competitive.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Viñales lights up Le Mans as Zarco steals the spotlight

Yamaha domination in France as Viñales takes pole, Zarco flies the flag – and Rossi starts from the front

Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) took another impressive pole position at a proven venue for the 2013 Moto3™ World Champion, topping the timesheets from teammate Valentino Rossi in a huge leap forward from the more difficult Spanish GP for the two. Home hero Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) took his first ever front row start in an electric atmosphere at the Bugatti circuit.

It was a last lap dash for Zarco after also proving a superstar in Q1, the Frenchman getting his head down and into the zone as the factory Yamaha pairing pushed at the front. Seemingly forced to settle for Row 2, the double Moto2™ Champion kept pounding around the 2.6 mile circuit undeterred and lit up the timesheets on his final lap to take back the front row.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) was the man just pushed back by Zarco’s last lap and starts P4, ahead of reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) after a more difficult day for the number 93. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) – fastest in Q1 from Zarco – completes the second row.

Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing) starts P7 despite a crash after topping FP3 in Le Mans too, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) giving the Austrian factory their best ever qualifying to date in P8 – an awesome achievement in their first season, and with teammate Bradley Smith also in the Q2 shootout and lining up in tenth.

Splitting the two ‘Bulls’ was Karel Abraham (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) in a solid showing for the Czech rider, with Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and French favourite Loris Baz (Reale Avintia Racing) completing the top twelve.

After rain affected sessions throughout the weekend, some big names find themselves falling foul of the fight to get through Q1, with Jerez winner Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) in P13, ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) and Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) to lock out the fastest fifteen. Le Mans’ most successful premier class rider on the grid, Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) faces a fight back on Sunday from sixteenth.

The lights go out for the French GP at 14:00 (GMT +2) – with the grid more exciting than ever after the shake up with the weather.

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki ECSTAR:

DIFFICULT QUALIFYING FOR TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR AT FRENCH GP

Andrea Iannone: P17, 1’32.844 (Q1)

Sylvain Guintoli: P23 1’34.082 (Q1)

The variable weather situation once again affected Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s performance in the French GP’s second day, with both riders struggling to find effective configurations in the full dry and warm conditions of the afternoon’s qualifying. Andrea Iannone classified as 17th for tomorrow’s race, while teammate Sylvain Guintoli will start from 23rd place.

The morning session started with some improvements for the Italian rider, but not enough to gain direct access to Q1, Iannone finishing 17th after FP3. In Q1, Iannone couldn’t do better than 1’32.844, nearly half a second out from access to Q2.

Guintoli had another day of apprenticeship, experiencing his first full dry conditions and warmer temperatures here in Le Mans, which turned out to be difficult conditions to best interpret the GSX-RR. His lack of experience with Suzuki’s machine resulted in his placing out of the Q2 and finishing in 23rd place on the grid.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager

“This has been a pretty weird weekend for us, affected by the weather conditions. Unfortunately we couldn’t get into the Q2 and this is a shame because with the time Andrea did in Q1, we could be in the third row. The weather gave us a lot of troubles, although that was a true of all teams, so this means that we didn’t manage to adapt quickly and effectively enough. Tomorrow will be a tough race for Andrea. We will try tonight to develop some solutions and tomorrow in warm up find a better setup to make him feel more comfortable. This was Sylvain´s first experience, so the weekend is positive so far for his part, since he managed to face quite variable conditions and adapt quickly. Tomorrow’s race will be important for him to get more experience and gain more confidence with the bike.”

Andrea Iannone

“This has been a very unusual qualifying day. The timesheet is a little tricky because many riders that were ahead of me after Q2 lapped slower than the time many of us achieved in Q1. These sessions have been complicated for me because we have never ridden in the rain and the conditions here were incredibly varied. We couldn’t demonstrate the competitiveness we are capable of. Our times were not that bad, with just a little more work and with more available time we could improve. It’s a shame to start that far behind, but my feeling for the race is positive. I think we can find something more tonight and in the warm up tomorrow and aim to have a positive race.”

Sylvain Guintoli

“It’s been another full day, with medium conditions this morning and a cold track temperature, while this afternoon the track was drier and warmer. I had to adapt quickly, and find a good pace. In the end the position is not very good, but the lap time is not that far off pace. For me it’s just track time that is missing, and hopefully we can do something better in tomorrow’s warm up and have a positive race.”