Bagnaia Edges Marquez by 0.012s for French MotoGP Pole

Francesco Bagnaia claimed pole position for the French MotoGP at Le Mans on Saturday with a late lap time of one minute 29.634 seconds, edging Ducati teammate Marc Marquez by just 0.012 seconds and putting the factory Ducati squad on the front row alongside Aprilia's championship leader Marco Bezzecchi in third.

The Italian's effort in the Q2 shootout denied Marquez, who had set a new circuit lap record of one minute 29.288 seconds to advance from Q1 after struggling in Friday's practice. Marquez briefly held provisional pole before Bagnaia's final-sector surge lifted him from seventh on the timesheets. Bezzecchi, holding a 67-point lead in the standings after four rounds, qualified 0.023 seconds off pole to complete the front row.

Bagnaia, a two-time world champion who sits ninth in the championship with 34 points following two retirements this season, described the result as a breakthrough. "I hope things are starting to click," he said. "It's never easy to say it after what was happening last year. So keep calm, feet on the ground and work like we are doing. We found something in the setup that is helping me."

Marquez, the reigning champion who has also crashed out twice this...