Rather discreet during qualifying, the reigning World Champion showed his fangs by achieving the best time in the warm up, ahead of the Tech 3 boys Jonas Folger and Johann Zarco, followed by Maverick Vinales and Danilo Petrucci.
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#FrenchGP MotoGP |
2016 |
2017 |
| FP1 | 1'34.042 Dani Pedrosa | 1'37.467 Jack Miller |
| FP2 | 1'32.830 Jorge Lorenzo | 1'41.673 Andrea Dovizioso |
| FP3 | 1'32.528 Andrea Iannone | 1'35.674 Scott Redding |
| FP4 | 1'32.801 Jorge Lorenzo | 1'32.906 Maverick Vinales |
| Q1 | 1'33.139 Aleix Espargaro | 1'32.298 Andrea Dovizioso |
| Q2 | 1'31.975 Jorge Lorenzo | 1'31.994 Maverick Vinales |
| Warm up | 1'33.009 Andrea Iannone | 1'33.049 Marc Marquez |
| Course | Lorenzo, Rossi, Vinales | |
| All time lap record | 1'31.975 Jorge Lorenzo 2016 |
On a track that was finally completely dry, the drivers took to the track with 16° for the air and 21° for the asphalt. Valentino Rossi completed the first fast lap in 1'34.172. Rossi is in second place on the grid, his best qualifying result coming in 2017. Rossi has finished second at Le Mans for the last three years, and last won at this circuit in 2008.
Alvaro Bautista followed him in 1'33.799, then Vale took back first place in 1'33.601. Maverick Vinales took the lead in 1'33.561. He starts from pole for the second time this season, on the circuit where he achieved his first podium in the MotoGP category last year. He took his first Grand Prix victory at Le Mans in the 125 in 2011.
Mid-session, Dani Pedrosa progressed in 1'33.434. Jonas Folger improved to 1'33.287. Karel Abraham fell without gravity. Marc Marquez rose to first position in 1'33.274, soon beaten by Folger in 1'33.272. Danilo Petrucci followed them in 1'33.241. Folger regained the advantage in 1'33.070, before Marquez achieved 1'33.049.
Marquez retained the advantage and completed the warm-up in the lead ahead of Folger and Zarco. For Johann zarco in third position on the grid for his home Grand Prix, it is his first time on the front row in MotoGP. The last French pilot was Randy de Puniet in Catalonia in 2010.
Warm up results:
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 33.049s [Lap 12/13] 298km/h (Top Speed)
2. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 33.070s +0.021s [10/12] 301km/h
3. Johann zarco ENG Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 33.202s +0.153s [12/13] 303km/h
4. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 33.210s +0.161s [11/12] 301km/h
5. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 33.241s +0.192s
[10/13] 304km/h
6. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.309s +0.260s
[12/13] 306km/h
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 33.344s +0.295s [11/11] 305km/h
8. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 33.353s +0.304s [12/12] 300km/h
9. Alex Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 33.357s +0.308s [6/12] 300km/h
10. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 33.434s +0.385s [12/12] 302km/h
11. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 33.434s +0.385s [6/12] 301km/h
12. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.436s +0.387s [12/13] 306km/h
13. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 33.637s +0.588s [10/11] 298km/h
14. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.750s +0.701s
[9/13] 309km/h
15. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 33.751s +0.702s [12/12] 304km/h
16. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 33.800s +0.751s
[10/13] 298km/h
17. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 33.858s +0.809s
[11/11] 296km/h
18. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 34.127s +1.078s [7/13] 295km/h
19. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 34.250s +1.201s [11/11] 298km/h
20. Espargaro Pol ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 34.269s +1.220s
[10/11] 302km/h
21. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 34.416s +1.367s [12/12] 295km/h
22. Sylvain Guintoli
FRA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 34.502s +1.453s [7/12] 297km/h
23. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 34.776s +1.727s
Reminder of qualifications:
1. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 31.994s
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 32.100s +0.106s
3. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 32.229s +0.235s
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 32.300s +0.306s
5. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 32.493s +0.499s
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 32.726s +0.732s
7. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.119s +1.125s
8. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 33.399s +1.405s
9. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 33.517s +1.523s
10. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 33.629s +1.635s
11. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 33.756s +1.762s
12. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 33.955s +1.961s
13. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 32.415s
14. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 32.484s
15. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 32.695s
16. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 32.830s
17. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 32.844s
18. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 33.187s
19. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 33.231s
20. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 33.233s
21. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 33.817s
22. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 33.875s
23. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 34.082s
Reference times:
Test record: 1'31.975 by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in 2016
Lap record: 1'32.879 by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in 2015
Best top speed: 316,6 km/h for Andrea Iannone (Ducati) in 2015
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 62 points
2 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 60
3 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 58
4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 52
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 41
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 35
7 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 29
8 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 29
9 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 28
10 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 26
11 Scott REDDING-Ducati 26
12 Jack MILLER-Honda 21
13 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 17
14 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 14
15 Loris BAZ-Ducati 12
16 Hector BARBERA-Ducati 12
17 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 9
18 Karel ABRAHAM-Ducati 9
19 Tito RABAT-Honda 8
20 Alex RINS-Suzuki 7
21 Bradley SMITH-KTM 3
22 Pol ESPARGARO-KTM 2
23 Sam LOWES-Aprilia 0
