The Frenchman claimed P2 behind a rapid #93 on Friday at Le Mans as attention turns to qualifying and Tissot Sprint Saturday.
A new all-time lap record for Practice honours at the Michelin Grand Prix of France? That’s exactly what Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) served up as his 1:29.855 sees the six-time MotoGP World Champion acting as the rider to beat after the opening day of running. Leading the chase is home hero Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), much to the delight of the packed Le Mans terraces, while Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) pocketed a P3.
HOW PRACTICE UNFOLDED: MARQUEZ UNBEATABLE, QUARTARARO FRONTS CHASERS
Leading the way into the final 30 minutes was Marc Marquez, with Quartararo 0.4s adrift in second place and Bagnaia third. That soon changed though because Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) jumped into P2 as Top Gun flew the KTM flag highest as we crept into the final 20 minutes of Practice.
The first big mover was Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol). The Italian leapt to P4 from outside the top 10 on a soft Michelin rear tyre, but fortunes weren’t as favourable for teammate Joan Mir as the 2020 World Champion suffered a crash at Turn 13 with 17 minutes left on the clock.
On fresh rear rubber, Viñales closed the gap to Marquez to sit 0.005s off the #93 and pushing to get the better of his compatriot, Viñales crashed unhurt at Turn 9. Meanwhile, Bagnaia had improved his time to go P3 and with 10 minutes to go, the home crowd were applauding Quartararo as the he went 0.3s clear at the top. However, that was short-lived because five seconds later, Marquez slammed in a 1:29.855 – a new all-time lap record.
Could anyone get close to that was the question. Bagnaia went P2 to close the deficit to 0.184s and not long after, Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) jumped ahead of Quartararo into P3. A late crash for Johann Zarco (Honda HRC Castrol), coupled with a Marini improvement, saw the Frenchman lose out on a place in the top 10, while the other home hero landed a late lap to back to P2. That, of course, was Quartararo.
FRIDAY TOP 10 IN LE MANS
Rookie Aldeguer continues to impress as the #54 ends Day 1 in P4 ahead of teammate and World Championship leader Alex Marquez. Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) enjoyed a fruitful session, the Australian sails into Q2 in P6, as a pair of KTMs – led by Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – head into Q2, with Viñales eventually ending Practice in P8.
Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was P9 and a last-lap push from Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) ensured the Italian snatched the final automatic Q2 spot in P10 – meaning Marini narrowly missed out.
NEXT UP: QUALIFYING AND TISSOT SPRINT SATURDAY
A capacity crowd awaits in Le Mans and at 10:50 local time they’ll be cheering on Zarco in Q1. Make sure you tune in to see how the grid is set for the Sprint and Grand Prix, with the first battle of the weekend going green at 15:00.
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