Francesco Bagnaia leads Ducati Lenovo 1-2 for Grand Prix France qualifying, Marc Marquez second

The former world champion has endured a dreadful year after failing to land the title in 2024 up against Jorge Martin, and was fifth in the 2025 championship.

He has been upstaged by his team-mate Marc Marquez, who won his seventh world title last season.

Marquez, however, has also had a poor start to the 2026 season, as he struggles for his best form after a season-ending injury last year in October, and he was well off the pace earlier in the weekend, making the result in the morning something of a shock.

That injury required surgery, and neither the Italian nor the Spaniard have won a full-length race in the current campaign, though they were first and second at the Grand Prix Jerez Sprint race, where Marquez triumphed in chaotic, wet conditions that upset the race.

On Friday, Marquez again underwhelmed when he was 13th fastest, meaning he had to start in Q1 on Saturday morning, but he quickly produced a new lap record to suggest he was approaching some decent form.

The Ducati factory team duo then outperformed the rest of the competitors in Q2, with Bagnaia top, and Marquez just behind him, meaning they will be on the front row for the afternoon’s Sprint, and Sunday’s full-length event.

The current championship leader, Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi, is third fastest.

Fabio Di Giannantonio set the pace for the Ducati satellite teams, as his consistent start to the season continued with fourth on the grid. Another Ducati, Alex Marquez's BK8 Gresini, is in 10th spot.

The rest of the second row is made up by KTM's Pedro Acosta, and Monster Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo. Behind them are Joan Mir of Honda, Jorge Martin of Aprilia, and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse), in seventh, eighth, and ninth respectively.

Johann Zarco had been tipped by TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson as a potential winner this weekend after his victory last year, but in dry conditions this time around, he was 11th fastest for Castrol, which means any success is unlikely unless rain plays a part in the two races to come this weekend, shown live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

Bezzecchi has three wins this season and sits on 101 points, 11 clear of his team-mate Martin. Di Giannantonio leads the way for the Ducatis in third on 71, while KTM's Acosta is just five behind him on 66. 

Current world champion Marquez is yet to win a MotoGP this season, and is on 57 points, putting real pressure on him to perform this weekend after a series of races ruined by errors and crashes.

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