The highlight of the French Michelin® Grand Prix is approaching, with the stars of the top class set to face the fifth race of 2024 in the early afternoon of tomorrow, with 25 points up for grabs.
Here are the ten things to know before the start.
1 – Jorge Martin, who crashed in Q2, qualified on pole position for the second time this year after Qatar. The Prima Pramac Racing team driver set a new lap record at Le Mans in qualifying and won the Tissot Sprint. He has his sights set on his seventh MotoGP™ victory. This achievement would put him on par with Loris Capirossi, in fourth place in the ranking of the most successful Ducati riders in MotoGP™.
2 – Reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), on pole in his two previous appearances at Le Mans, also crashed in Q2. He qualified second to get his first row of 2024. He has never won on this track in MotoGP™: his best finish was fourth place in 2021.
3 – Maverick Vinales qualified third on the RS-GP of the Aprilia Racing team, as he already did in 2024 in Portugal (where he won the Sprint) and in the United States (when he took his first victory in a GP with Aprilia). In the French Sprint he obtained bronze. He aims to take his 11th victory in a premier class GP.
4 – Aprilia and KTM/GASGAS have never won at Le Mans: will this be the right time?
5 – Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) qualified fourth. He hasn’t done this well since second place in Qatar last year, where he took his first MotoGP™ victory. He is chasing the third podium in the top class.
6 – Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), winner of the 2023 French GP, qualified fifth. For the third time in the current season, he starts from the first two rows. In the Sprint he crashed while he was second. He has his sights set on his fourth victory in the premier class.
7 – Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) qualified sixth despite a crash in Q2. He hadn’t started from the front like this since Qatar, when he was second. He has not been on the podium since the Catalan GP last year, when he took his third victory in a top class GP.
8 – Rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) qualified seventh. At just 19 years and 353 days old he is aiming to become the youngest rider to win in the premier class. At the moment the record belongs to Marc Marquez (20 years and 63 days, Austin 2013).
9 – Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) will start eighth, while Johann Zarco (Castrol LCR Honda) will start from 15th on the grid. It’s been 70 years since a Frenchman won the premier class on his home track. In 1954 it was Pierre Monneret, in Reims. Will either of them repeat the feat?
10 – Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) qualified 13th, never so badly at Le Mans in the premier class. He hasn’t won since the 2021 Emilia-Romagna GP. 931 days have passed. He has never climbed to the top step of the podium with a Ducati: will he succeed?
