Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team finish Le Mans Friday in third place. Marc Márquez thirteenth

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MotoGP | 8 May 2026

Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team finish Le Mans Friday in third place. Marc Márquez thirteenth

• Fabio Di Giannantonio is second with the Ducati of the VR46 Racing Team, Alex Márquez (Gresini Racing Team) is fourth

The Ducati Lenovo Team completed the opening day of action at Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prox Circuit, venue of the fifth Grand Prix of the season. Francesco Bagnaia finished third in Practice, while Marc Márquez ended the session in thirteenth place and will therefore have to go through tomorrow's Q1.

Bagnaia remained among the frontrunners throughout the afternoon session, showing strong pace both over the longer distance and in the time attack. In the final moments, Pecco suffered a crash while trying to improve further. Márquez endured a more complicated end to Practice: after a small mistake on his penultimate lap, Marc was unable to complete his final time attack due to a yellow-flag situation.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will return to the track tomorrow at 10:10 local time (GMT +2) for Free Practice 2, which will be followed by Q1 at 10:50 and Q2 at 11:15. The fifth Sprint of the season will be contested over a 13-lap distance from 15:00.

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 3rd
“I'm really happy that I was able to push this hard today. It was a positive day and we worked well from the beginning. The morning session was good too, despite the result, and in the afternoon we immediately found the right direction and improved our pace. The time attack went well without overdoing it, unlike the final attempt when I was trying to break into the 1'30s. Aside from the crash, I'm happy. Now we need to try to adapt in the best possible way to the conditions we'll encounter over the next two days.”

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 13th
“We struggled a little today, but we simply need to keep working and push a bit harder. Obviously it's not ideal to have to go through Q1, but unfortunately we couldn't be any faster. The bike is working quite well and can be ridden properly, which is the most important thing. It's up to me to understand how to make the most of it. It hasn't been an easy season so far, but we're doing our best to get back to last year's level of performance.”