Le Mans (AFP)
Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) will start from pole position for the French motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday after taking pole position on Saturday ahead of Spaniard Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) and Australian Jack Miller (Ducati).
"It's fantastic," said the 22-year-old French driver.
"I'm happy to be in pole position for the second time in a row here," he added.
He also had the best time in 2020 before handing the victory to the Italian Danilo Petrucci, then at Ducati.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), the current leader of the world championship two points ahead of Quartararo, has completely missed his qualifications and will only start from 16th position on the grid for the race on Sunday, which will start at 2:00 p.m.
The other Frenchman entered in MotoGP, Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac), will start 5th, just ahead of the six-time Spanish world champion Marc Marquez (Honda) after a qualifying session disputed in very uncertain weather but on a dry track.
Marquez, who returns to competition this year after a year of absence due to injury, held the fastest time of the session for a long time before Quartararo, Vinales, Miller and Zarco edged him out on the final lap, taking advantage of a track becoming faster and faster after the few drops that fell at the start of the session.
© 2021 AFP