Jack Miller was lucky to survive unscathed from a massive crash in final practice at the French MotoGP at Le Mans.

The Australian's Marc VDS Honda went off track and slammed into the tyre wall on Saturday (AEST). He returned to qualify 11th.

The Marc VDS Honda team tweeted: "Some work for @jackmilleraus's crew tonight as we suspect this won't just buff out" along with a photo of Miller's wrecked bike.

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Spaniard Maverick Vinales took pole position with his Yamaha team-mate and MotoGP leader Valentino Rossi qualifying alongside.

French rider Johann Zarco will line up behind the two factory Yamahas in third place for the privately-run Tech3 Yamaha team at the Bugatti circuit in his first top three start.

One tenth of a second divided the top two, with Vinales setting the best lap time of one minute 31.994 seconds and Rossi 0.106 slower.

It was the Spaniard's first proper MotoGP pole after the season-opener in Qatar, which was decided on practice times due to bad weather.

Britain's Cal Crutchlow was fourth on the non-works LCR Honda and ahead of the factory bike ridden by Spain's reigning world champion Marc Marquez. Ducati's Italian rider Andrea Dovizioso completed the second row.

Rossi leads Vinales in the standings by two points after four races with Marquez a further two behind.

Bourdais in hospital after Indy crash

Sebastien Bourdais's average lap time was over 370kph before the prang. ( AP: Greg Huey )

Meanwhile, French driver Sebastien Bourdais has been taken to hospital after slamming head-on into a barrier during Indianapolis 500 qualifying.

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Safety team members spent about 10 minutes getting the driver out of the car before placing him on a stretcher.

He was awake, alert and was taken to Indiana University Methodist Hospital for observation.

The Dale Coyne Racing driver had just completed two laps over 372 kph - the fastest laps of the day - when his car wiggled coming through the second turn.

The car slid up the track, into a SAFER barrier and flipped over before coming to a stop down the backstretch.

Bourdais won the season-opening race at St Petersburg, Florida.

Reuters/AP