The conditions in qualifying for the Moto2 race of the Grand Prix of France could not have been much more difficult. The Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans was neither dry nor soaking wet. In those extremely tricky circumstances, Bo Bendsneyder rode to seventeenth in Q2. Steven Odendaal got stuck in Q1 and starts from p21 tomorrow morning. After a very positive morning, it was a bit of a disappointment for NTS RW Racing GP. Steven Odendaal was by far the fastest on a slightly drying track in FP3. The South African was one of the few who dared to go out on slicks. The last session in which that was still possible was the Q1 of the MotoGP. In the qualifying sessions for the Moto2, about an hour later, it had become too humid. Odendaal was seventh with a time of 1.50.571 in Q1, in which he was unlucky that some of the fastest riders (including Jorge Navarro and Tom Lüthi, who both eventually qualified on the front row) were also in that session. Only the fastest four advance to Q2. The time of Odendaal would have been good enough for seventh in Q2 too, which made the South African even more disappointed. Bo Bendsneyder had already qualified for Q2 on Friday and that proved to be not necessarily an advantage in these circumstances. In between the two qualifying sessions, Odendaal quickly informed the Dutchman about the track conditions, but in the meantime it started to rain a little harder, so the circumstances changed again.
Bo Bendsneyder (17 – 1.52.505): “Very unfortunate this. This morning in the half-dry, the rear suspension was a little too soft. We set it harder and that was much better. Because it was wetter this afternoon, we made it softer again, but that turned out not to be the right choice. In Q2 you only have fifteen minutes and that was not enough time to adjust it again. The result could have been better, but it’s not dramatic either. At the test in Aragon I made a lot of practice starts and I am more confident about that now, but much will depend on the weather, which is very unpredictable here.”
Results Q1 & Q2 combined:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Jorge NAVARRO | Lightech Speed Up | 1’49.055 |
| 2 | Thomas LUTHI | Dynavolt Intact GP | 1’49.133 |
| 3 | Alex MARQUEZ | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’49.585 |
| 4 | Mattia PASINI | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’49.906 |
| 5 | Xavi VIERGE | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’50.232 |
| 6 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’50.315 |
| 7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | FLEXBOX HP 40 | 1’50.726 |
| 8 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’50.927 |
| 9 | Lukas TULOVIC | Kiefer Racing | 1’51.042 |
| 10 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Dynavolt Intact GP | 1’51.074 |
| 11 | Jake DIXON | Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team | 1’51.082 |
| 12 | Remy GARDNER | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | 1’51.137 |
| 13 | Jorge MARTIN | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’51.145 |
| 14 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | FLEXBOX HP 40 | 1’51.233 |
| 15 | Nicolo BULEGA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’52.085 |
| 16 | Enea BASTIANINI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’52.376 |
| 17 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’52.505 |
| 18 | Simone CORSI | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | 1’52.929 |
| 19 | Luca MARINI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’49.748 |
| 20 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Lightech Speed Up | 1’50.297 |
| 21 | Steven ODENDAAL | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’50.571 |
| 22 | Iker LECUONA | American Racing KTM | 1’50.972 |
| 23 | Somkiat CHANTRA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’50.981 |
| 24 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward | 1’51.313 |
| 25 | Dominique AEGERTER | MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward | 1’51.855 |
| 26 | Sam LOWES | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’52.016 |
| 27 | Marco BEZZECCHI | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’52.268 |
| 28 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’52.355 |
| 29 | Joe ROBERTS | American Racing KTM | 1’52.355 |
| 30 | Xavi CARDELUS | Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team | 1’53.385 |
| 31 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | 1’53.397 |
| 32 | Philipp OETTL | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’53.893 |
Source: motogp.com, rwracinggp.com
