Marquez misses Q2 cut-off in Le Mans MotoGP Friday practice
Marc Marquez will have to fight his way through the opening MotoGP qualifying segment at the French Grand Prix, after missing the top 10 cut-off on Friday.
The reigning champion ended up on the wrong side of an ultra-tight battle for the automatic Q2 places, which was headed up by home hero Johann Zarco (LCR Honda).
Towards the sharp end all day, Zarco ended up one of two riders getting into the 1m29s laptime range - with VR46 Ducati's Fabio Di Giannantonio the other, just 0.010s slower.
Advancing to Q2: Zarco, Di Giannantonio, Bagnaia, A Marquez, Mir, Martin, Bezzecchi, Rins, Ogura, Acosta
Will contest Q1: Bastianini, Binder, M Marquez, Fernandez, Miller, Marini, Quartararo, Morbidelli, Moreira, Razgatlioglu, Aldeguer, Folger
Marquez was in the top 10 for much of the session but was shuffled out of it in the final moments, then was denied the chance to improve by yellow flags for a La Chapelle crash for team-mate Pecco Bagnaia - though Marquez's lap was already shaky at that point.
It will be Marquez's first time in Q1 since last year's Indonesian Grand Prix in October.
Bagnaia wound up third, ahead of Alex Marquez and Joan Mir in an all-Honda/Ducati top five.
It was a nervy session for the championship-leading works Aprilia riders in terms of making Q2 but both Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi pulled it off in the end - with Martin, who had shrugged off a fall at Chemin aux Boeufs, also towing the unfancied Yamaha of Alex Rins to a top-10 spot.
Ai Ogura and Pedro Acosta set an identical time - after Acosta had crashed while on a fast lap - and both squeezed into the top 10, just 0.289s off the pace.
Raul Fernandez will be the only Aprilia representative in Q1, not helped by his bike catching fire mid-session, while a crash seemed to leave Fermin Aldeguer uncompetitive - ahead only of KTM stand-in Jonas Folger.
Session results
1 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) 1m29.907s
2 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +0.010s
3 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.138s
4 Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) +0.138s
5 Joan Mir (Honda) +0.185s
6 Jorge Martin (Aprilia) +0.221s
7 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) +0.270s
8 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +0.288s
9 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.289s
10 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +0.289s
---
11 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +0.367s
12 Brad Binder (KTM) +0.381s
13 Marc Marquez (Ducati) +0.464s
14 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.510s
15 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) +0.521s
16 Luca Marini (Honda) +0.556s
17 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +0.562s
18 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +0.763s
19 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +0.816s
20 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) +1.421s
21 Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) +1.527s
22 Jonas Folger (Tech3 KTM) +2.543s
