Francesco Bagnaia’s surprise pole at Le Mans sends Neil Hodgson reeling — How are the struggles still there?

Sylvain Guintoli reacts to Francesco Bagnaia’s French GP pole lap

Sylvain Guintoli echoed those thoughts but also pointed out that it was good to see the two-time world champion showing some positive signs again, even if it’s just for one weekend.

“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.”

Michael Laverty highlights what’s changed for Bagnaia on the GP26

Michael Laverty also spoke about how Bagnaia appears to be getting back to the level that brought him success in previous seasons, pointing out that the Italian’s renewed confidence under braking stood out most.

He continued, “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.”