Honda’s MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez took pole position for the French Grand Prix at Le Mans yesterday after lapping half a second faster than his nearest rival.

Marquez’s pole, in a time of one minute 32.246 seconds on a drying track after earlier rain, was the 25th of the Spaniard’s MotoGP career.

Italian Andrea Dovizioso qualified second for Ducati, in 1:32.749, with Yamaha’s Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo completing the front row for today’s race at the Bugatti circuit.

Lorenzo’s championship-leading team-mate Valentino Rossi will start seventh, just ahead of Honda’s Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa who is returning from arm surgery after missing the last three races.

Rossi leads Dovizioso by 15 points after four rounds of the championship.

Danilo Petrucci, of Pramac Racing, and Team Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro, who both made the jump up from the first qualifying, completed the top 10 positions.