French Grand Prix, Le Mans, Moto2, FP2: Brad Binder teaches the lesson with the KTM

It was the Italian driver, Andrea Locatelli who was the fastest (1.36.894s) this morning during the first free practice session. He dominated his opponents Marcel Schrötter, although injured, and Brad Binder on the KTM. Sam Lowes, on his Kalex, was not unworthy by hanging on for a while, the best time of the session before being caught. However, he finished third fastest in the session. Championship leader Lorenzo Baldassari finished seventh. 

 

Le Mans Moto2™	2018	2019
FP1	1'37.001 Marcel Schrötter	1'36. 894s Andrea Locatelli
FP2	1'37.082 Francesco Bagnaia	1'36.551s Brad Binder
FP3	1'36.748 Marcel Schrötter
Q1	XXX
Q2	1'36.188 Francesco Bagnaia
warm up	1'37.453 Mattia Pasini
Course	Bagnaia, Marquez, Mir
All time lap record	1'36.188 Bagnaia (2018)

 

It's 20,5 degrees in the air and 31,4 degrees on the track. The sky is overcast but the rain should not disrupt the session.

It was Locatelli who set the reference time at the start of the session, with a time of 1.37.766s. But Binder confirms his good form this morning with a time 4 tenths better (1.37.361s). The championship leader, a little behind this morning, is very present in this 2nd free practice session, he laps in 1.37.149s. His teammate, Fernández in turn achieved the best time, in 1.37.059s. Locatelli crashes in turn 13.

Baldassarri pushes hard and passes the 1.37 mark, he runs in 1.36.668s. Last year, he fell here during the race. His teammate, Fernandez, also improves (1.37.687s) and is second. Bastianini, the Italtrans driver, is third, Lüthi, fourth and Bulega fifth. The first KTM is that of Binder who is sixth. Nagashima crashed in turn 10, he was twelfth.

Chantra goes straight but manages to stay on her wheels. Schrötter made the effort and took the fourth best time by setting a time of 1.37.089s. The Dynavolt team driver returns to his box and is greeted with a crutch by his team, he seems to be suffering from his foot.

Lowes crashes in turn 6.

Márquez, the Marc VDS driver seems to be in difficulty, he is classified tenth (1.37.515s). His teammate, Virgo is thirteenth. Márquez, made the effort and improved his time, he is now fifth with a lap time of 1.37.515s. Gardner does the same and takes control of the session, he runs in 1.36.600s.

The top 5 is as follows: Gardner, Baldassarri, Fernández, Pasini and Locatelli. There are 6 minutes left before the end of the session. Luthi falls in turn 3. Chantra falls in turn 8. Schrötter improves and takes fifth position with a time of 1.36.754s. Binder on the KTM also improved and finished first in the session ahead of Gardner and Baldassarri. He sets a lap time of 1.36.551s. Odendaal falls in turn 13.

French Grand Prix Le Mans Moto2 FP2: times

1	41	Brad BINDER	KTM	1'36.551
2	87	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	1'36.600	0.049	0.049
3	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	1'36.668	0.117	0.068
4	40	Augusto FERNÁNDEZ	Kalex	1'36.687	0.136	0.019
5	54	Matthias PASINI	Kalex	1'36.694	0.143	0.007
6	23	Marcel SCHRÖTTER	Kalex	1'36.754	0.203	0.060
7	5	Andrea LOCATELLI	Kalex	1'36.762	0.211	0.008
8	24	Simone COURSES	Kalex	1'36.834	0.283	0.072
9	73	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	1'36.841	0.290	0.007
10	33	Enea BASTIANINI	Kalex	1'36.858	0.307	0.017
11	11	Nicolò BULEGA	Kalex	1'36.972	0.421	0.114
12	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NTS	1'37.101	0.550	0.129
13	88	Jorge MARTIN	KTM	1'37.140	0.589	0.039
14	97	Xavi VIRGIN	Kalex	1'37.141	0.590	0.001
15	9	Jorge NAVARRO	Speed ​​Up	1'37.232	0.681	0.091
16	12	Thomas LÜTHI	Kalex	1'37.247	0.696	0.015
17	10	Luca MARINI	Kalex	1'37.315	0.764	0.068
18	27	Iker LECUONA	KTM	1'37.319	0.768	0.004
19	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	Kalex	1'37.381	0.830	0.062
20	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Speed ​​Up	1'37.488	0.937	0.107
21	45	Tetsuit NAGASHIMA	Kalex	1'37.653	1.102	0.165
22	4	Steven ODENDAAL	NTS	1'37.713	1.162	0.060
23	65	Philipp ÖTTL	KTM	1'37.730	1.179	0.017
24	16	Joe ROBERTS	KTM	1'37.836	1.285	0.106
25	22	Sam LOWES	Kalex	1'37.861	1.310	0.025
26	62	Stefano MANZI	MV Agusta	1'38.148	1.597	0.287
27	77	Dominique AEGERTER	MV Agusta	1'38.205	1.654	0.057
28	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	KTM	1'38.529	1.978	0.324
29	96	Jake DIXON	KTM	1'38.839	2.288	0.310
30	3	Lukas TULOVIC	KTM	1'38.845	2.294	0.006
31	20	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA	Kalex	1'39.772	3.221	0.927
32	18	Xavi CARDELUS	KTM	1'40.437	3.886	0.665