Moto2 Le Mans France FP1: Daniel shows off in a real massacre game

It is with Luca Marini as championship leader that Moto2 presents itself at the French Grand Prix. The latest winner in Barcelona, ​​the half-brother of Valentino Rossi is a full favorite for the title this year in the category. However, he is the only one for the moment not to have established a future in MotoGP for 2021, unlike Bastianini, his runner-up in the general classification and Jorge Martin, both snapped up by Ducati. Even Fabio Di Giannantonio has assurances of going to the premier category in 2022 with a signed contract which seals his reunion with Fausto Gresini…

The same Fabio DiGiannantonio finished the last race in Catalonia in third place, which is his third Moto2 podium with Brno and Misano last year, where he finished second. He will celebrate his 22nd birthday on qualifying day for the French Grand Prix. For his part, Sam Lowes is expected to make his 100th Moto2 start this Sunday.

The ten Moto2 category races that have taken place at Le Mans so far have been won by nine different riders: Toni Elias (2010) Marc Marquez (2011) Tom Luthi (2012 and 2015), Scott Redding (2013) Mika Kallio (2014) alex rins (2016), Franco Morbidelli (2017), Francis Bagnaia (2018) et Alex Marquez (2019)

During the last 10 Moto2 races at Le Mans, alone Francis Bagnaia (2018) won after qualifying on pole position.

What will this edition have in store for us in Sarthe which takes place exceptionally in October as the ninth of the fourteen rounds of this world championship after? Before answering this question, here is the table which recalls the story…

Moto2™ Le Mans	2019	2020
FP1	1'36.894 Andrea Locatelli	1'51.279 Daniel
FP2	1'36.551 Brad Binder
FP3	1'40.581 Steven Odendaal
Q1	1'49.102 Thomas Lüthi
Q2	1'49.055 Jorge Navarro
Warm Up	1'37.796 Remy Gardner
Course	Marquez, Navarro, Fernandez
All time lap record	1'36.188 Francesco Bagnaia 2018

It is on a track worthy of an English championship that the category starts, which will perhaps have the gift of bringing good fortune to Sam Lowes ou Jake Dixon. Luca marini falls as soon as he leaves the pit lane... He thus reminds us that the discipline is equipped with Dunlop, like that of the Moto3 where we experienced a festival of falls, and unlike MotoGP, equipped with Michelin where no one fell.

izdihar falls in turn. heavily on his back at the junction bend. So we have two accidents in two minutes. Schrotter also gets involved, also at the connection. Dalla Porta imitates him… And four, in five minutes. Chantra goes there in turn. It's a real massacre game that confirms Biesierkiski on the NTS. We are at six accidents.

Meanwhile, Syahrin achieved the best time in 1'52.400, ahead of Lowes et Open up. Dixon is fourth and Bezzecchi closes the top 5 after a nice heat. At turn 3, on wet asphalt and at 16°, the Malaysian leader is nevertheless the seventh driver to go to the ground.

Ramirez is having a nice heat, but refuses to join the list of casualties. This is not the case of Daniel which falls at turn 3. And eight. There are 24 minutes of exercise left… Open up takes the lead in 1'52.347. Navarro, Marini, Schrotter et izdihar did not achieve any lap times.

Marini wants to leave, leaves his box, but not the pit lane. There is a problem with his Kalex… Di Giannantonio falls to glazing 14 and seems to be suffering. He was poorly received after a big hign side. Here we are at nine. The last quarter of an hour has begun. Canet runs away so as not to start the series of ten... It's up to izdihar that this honor will return. This is his second fall. He is holding his right wrist.

Baldassarri remembers everyone fondly by taking fourth place. By Giannantonio is taken back to the medical center… Dixon achieves a 1'51.851 which puts him in the spotlight. Héctor Garzò enters the top three.

The last five minutes have begun. Héctor Garzò is in the lead with his 1'51.635. Martin enters the top three. But Baldassarri pushes him back to fourth. Joe Roberts accelerates and registers second. Sam Lowes is the eleventh pilot to fall and Joe Roberts the twelfth, at turn 14.

Daniel crosses the finish line in 1'51.279 and therefore in the lead. The Malaysian had fallen at the start of the year. Baldassarri is second, in front Garzo, Roberts et Dixon. The championship leader Marini is 24th, almost 4 seconds behind…

FP1 classification of the French Moto2 Grand Prix:

 

Classification credit: MotoGP.com