Marco Bezzecchi
Francesco Bagnaia has taken pole position at the 2026 French Grand Prix amid the Italian’s poor run of form in MotoGP of late, leading Neil Hodgson to express his confusion over the barn-storming lap.
The Italian rider secured his first front-of-the-pack start since last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix, stunning the sold-out crowd in attendance at Le Mans.
Can Francesco Bagnaia convert his surprise first pole position of 2026 into his first win in the French Grand Prix? 🤔
Bagnaia will be joined by factory Ducati counterpart Marc Marquez on the front row of the grid for the Sprint and Grand Prix. The reigning world champion first had to go through Q1 to have a shot at pole, and smashed the Le Mans lap record in the process.
After a strong first day of practice at the Sarthe-based circuit, Bagnaia voiced his satisfaction with how Ducati set up his GP26, noting that he was able to consistently find the limit of his prototype without risking another crash.
His optimism has seemingly been rewarded, and now that he has opened his pole position account for the 2026 MotoGP term, the next objective on the list is securing a first win for the year.
- READ MORE: MotoGP qualifying results as Francesco Bagnaia scores French Grand Prix pole ahead of Marc Marquez
Neil Hodgson and Sylvain Guintoli react to Francesco Bagnaia’s French GP pole lap
During TNT Sports’ coverage of qualifying at the French Grand Prix, commentators Gavin Emmett and Neil Hodgson joked about the pace that Bagnaia showed being non-existent in recent rounds.
The latter finished up by saying, “We shouldn’t joke, but his run of form has been very confusing.”
Colleague Sylvain Guintoli shared a similar sentiment, but also noted how good it is to see the two-time world champion back in form, even if it is just for one race weekend.
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Davide Tardozzi certainly enjoyed it… 😮💨
“It’s good to see that he’s backing it up from the Jerez test, he’s obviously found something there, and brought it with him here,” the former MotoGP rider told viewers.
“He was quick yesterday, had good pace, managed to do well in the time attack yesterday, and today, he’s been able to replicate it. It was a great, great lap time, and yeah, Pecco is back on form.
“We’ve not seen much of Pecco’s results lately, so it’s great to have him back in the mix. With that pole position now, he’s got a great chance of making it count, at least for the Sprint. We’ve got a real battle on.”
- READ MORE: Sylvain Guintoli warns Aprilia of their Francesco Bagnaia ‘gamble’ amid his career-worst MotoGP form
Michael Laverty pinpoints where Francesco Bagnaia has improved on the GP26
Michael Laverty also heaped praise on the #63 for seemingly regaining the form seen in his more successful campaigns in recent years. The Northern Irishman identified Bagnaia’s confidence on the brakes as a deciding factor.
He added, “Obviously, we want to see a double world champion fight like a double world champion. He looked a shadow of his former self over the last year, and even at the start of the season, we thought that over the winter, they would put things right.
“But he’s just looked all at sea over the opening four rounds of the season. He’s turned up here after the test in Jerez; they’ve obviously unlocked something.
“He’s changed the aero body a little bit this weekend, more downforce, maybe changed the balance of the bike. But he looked better in the braking zones, better, and turning, better in consistency, and he delivered another pole.
“And that’s what, when Pecco was in his championship-winning seasons, he could do, he could extract a bit more grip out of the tyres, find that last tenth of a second.”
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