LE MANS – Home favourite Fabio Quartararo made light of the tricky changeable conditions and his recent surgery to claim pole for the French MotoGP in Saturday qualifying at Le Mans.
With intermittent rain making life difficult at the Bugatti circuit Quartararo topped the time sheets from his Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales with Ducati's Jack Miller completing the front row.
Quartararo's pole grab comes just 11 days after undergoing 'arm pump' surgery following problems with his right forearm, which saw him slip to a 13th place finish last time out at Jerez.
Franco Morbidelli on Yamaha's satellite SRT bike is on the second row after posting the fourth quickest time in Q2 alongside the other home hope Johann Zarco and six-time world champion Marc Marquez.
Both the reigning world champion Joan Mir and leader of the 2021 riders' standings Francesco Bagnaia failed to make it out of Q1 and into Q2 and the battle for pole, leaving the pair well down the grid for Sunday's race.
AFP