MotoGP
Published on May 10, 2024 • 10:40 PM by André Lecondé

MotoGP, France, FP1 LIVE: Jorge Martin contains Pedro Acosta and Maverick Vinales

Le Mans and its Bugatti circuit are ready to launch the 2024 French MotoGP Grand Prix with this first test session.

As MotoGP revs its engines for a French Grand Prix marking the fifth round of the 2024 season, the spotlight is on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans. Fabio Quartararo, Johann Zarco, and other talents from the circuit will compete on this track renowned for its intensity and rich history.

The Bugatti Le Mans circuit is famous for its “stop-and-go” profile, typical of tracks that require sudden braking and powerful acceleration. Long 4,185 kilometers and wide 13 meters, the route is traveled in a clockwise direction. He understands new right turns and five to the left, with a maximum straight line of 674 meters. Among its emblematic corners are the “La Chapelle” hairpin, which descends towards the chicane located under the Dunlop arch, and the “Museum” corner, as well as the end-of-lap chicane which are critical points for overtaking. .

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The premier class French Grand Prix was raced for the first time at Le Mans in 1969, as part of the 500cc World Championship, the ancestor of MotoGP. Despite an interruption following the serious accident byAlberto Puig in 1995, the Grand Prix made a triumphant return in 2000. Since then, the circuit has been the scene of memorable victories and exceptional performances.

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Among the notable figures, Jorge Lorenzo dominates with five victories at Le Mans, setting a record difficult to equal. Chris Vermeulen also made an impression by winning his only MotoGP victory here with Suzuki in 2007. More recently, Francis Bagnaia set the record for fastest lap in 2022, while Brad Binder holds the top speed record.

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It is with this session that hostilities begin in Sarthe. What will she have in store for us? Before knowing it, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

MotoGP™ Le Mans, France

2023

2024
FP1 1'31.449 Jack Miller (See here) 1'31.421 Jorge Martin (See here)
Practice 1'30.950 Jack Miller (See here) (See here)
FP2 1'31.898 Maverick Vinales (See here) (See here)
Q1 1'31.268 Luca Marini (See here) (See here)
Q2 1'30.705 Francesco Bagnaia (See here) (See here)
Sprint Martin, Binder, Bagnaia (See here) (See here)
Warm Up  1'31.888 Johann Zarco (See here) (See here)
Course Bezzecchi, Martin, Zarco (See here) (See here)
All time lap record 1'30.450 Pecco Bagnaia 2022 (See here) (See here)

The weather is sunny, the dry track is at 27° and in the already well-filled stands we enjoy 19°.

After three wildcards in Jerez, this weekend we return to the usual size of the grid, which only includes the 22 regular driverss. We still do not have to report any injury-related absences in 2024. Last year, Ducati clearly set the tone here, with Martin et Bezzecchi winning both races. Alone Binder was able to get on the podium in the sprint for another manufacturer. Will this image be repeated this year? We're about to find out. The MotoGP race weekend at Le Mans is open, FP1 has started!

Everyone starts the session with the harder medium rear tire. At the front, soft is the preferred choice on the terrain, which is also due to the hard braking zones here. The temperature of the asphalt was measured at 28 degrees Celsius.

fabio quartararo relies on the new chassis Yamaha from the Jerez tests, which did not excite his teammate Alex Rins. Otherwise, there are no new developments from Yamaha here. Honda did not tell us that the development parts were used here. Next week, Yamaha et Honda will carry out private tests at Mugello.

The Ducati immediately ahead of everyone : Marc Marquez, Bezzecchi, Martin and Bagnaia in the first four positions.

bastianini et Vinales have improved, but Marc Marquez remained in control, being the first to go under 1:32 in 1:31.971. In fifth place, Vinales is at the top of Aprilia. And the pilot KTM Binder follows in seventh position.

Pol Espargaro , tester KTM , to Sky: “ We are trying to improve the bike in every aspect, but it is not easy. The level is very high. Le Mans is easy, it's not easy to watch the others on the track. Acosta? He understands everything quickly, he is very young and talented but still has a lot of room for improvement and things to understand"

Small moment of shock for Aleix Espargaró : The pilot Aprilia briefly lost control of his machine when braking for turn 8 and suffered a violent oscillation. However, this can prevent a fall and put the RS-GP back upright.

After the first 15 minutes of the race weekend, the track is now empty and many drivers have come to make a pit stop. At the top, there are still four ducati in front Binder, Acosyour and Vinales, then the four remaining Ducatisti. During the first run, Marc Marquez drove with its standard configuration. The second bike is set up a little differently. He developed this configuration with Frankie Carchedi during the Jerez test.

écran

Peter Acosta improves by going back to 6th position, 266 thousandths of a second behind the best time Marc Marquez.

There is no update for Joan mirMore Luca marini driver with a chassis that Bradl drove for the last time at Jerez. KTM work with Brad Binder on the trim correction system. The pilots Ducati can operate the lever when entering the turn, and the system then activates automatically when exiting the turn. KTM seems to be working on a similar system.

bastianini managed to overtake Marquez and took the lead in 1'31.914. Bezzecchi also performed well, moving up to 3rd place in the meantime. We are entering the last quarter of an hour. Behind the five pilots Ducati (Marc Marquez, Bastianini, Martin, Bagnaia and Bezzecchi) follows Casa Particular in Viñales and his Aprilia then the KTM trio Miller, Binder et Acosta.

Excellent rhythm'Enea Bastianini , who further improved his time at 1'31.837 . Behind him Martin and Marc Marquez.

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The Pramac guys attack: Martin missed a new best time in second place by just 0,035 seconds and Morbidelli, tenth, was also only 0,357 seconds behind. Peter Acosta caused a sensation with a time of 1'31.673. He takes the lead. Then it is returned to the second position at 46 thousandths of bastianini. The rookie exceeded the limits of the track.

Acosta takes the lead 1:31.658 with new tires, this time the ride is good. bastianini et bagnaia behind him. We're entering the last five minutes. fabio quartararo sixth but goes off the track which cancels his lap. zarco is 18th.

Martin made a time of 1'31.421 , reducing the time ofAcosta by more than two tenths. Brad Binder fall. Under the checkered flag and thanks to this yellow flag caused by the KTM official, Martin finished in the lead before Acosta, Vinales, Bastianini et bagnaia. Alex Marquez leads the rest of the peloton, Marc Marquez is ninth. Johann zarco is 16th and fabio quartararo 20th. See you this afternoon to find out the list of drivers directly invited to Q2!

Results of Free Practice 1 of the French MotoGP Grand Prix on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans: 

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Credit classification : motogp.com