Ayumu Sasaki marched to a commanding pole position in qualifying for the French Moto3 at Le Mans, the Japanese rider securing Saturday honours for the third time this season.

In a session hindered by issues with timekeeping - a problem that led to a delay in the final results being confirmed - Sasaki did his bit by turning in a lap time that made no question of his pole position.

Stopping the clock at 1m 41.630secs, Sasaki ended the session a full 0.3secs clear of closest rivals, title fighters Diogo Moreira and Daniel Holgado.

Coming into the weekend with championship leader Holgado holding a slender four point margin over Moreira, the pair were beneficiaries of the late reshuffle of the results as several laps were cancelled and times verified.

It led to Andrea Migno losing a provisional second place on the grid, though the CIP Green Power rider - who fell moments after setting his time - will still get underway from a strong fourth place having already progressed via Q1.

A winner in the United States and Spain, Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA KTM) will aim for a hat-trick of Moto3 wins from fifth place on the grid, the Spaniard heading off another title contender in Jaume Masia (Leopard Honda).

Deniz Oncu's quest for a long-awaited maiden Moto3 win will continue from seventh on the grid, th Turk joined on row three by Xavier Artigas and Syarifuddin Azman, the Malaysian scoring a big personal best with his run to ninth on the grid.

Of the Brits, Scott Ogden couldn't progress beyond a fiercely-contested Q1 session after being caught out on his best lap by yellow flags triggered by a wild high-side for Sasaki's team-mate Colin Veijer.

the Briton having to contend with a starting position of 20th, while VisionTrack Honda team-mate Joshua Whatley gets underway from 26th.

CLICK HERE to view the 2023 Moto3 World Championship standings after Spanish Moto3 [Round 4 of 20]

French Moto3 | Qualifying Results

Le Mans | Conditions - Dry, Sunny