During the first day of free practice for the French Grand Prix at the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, Jorge Martin of the Pramac Ducati team shone with his performance, setting the best time of the day and a new lap record with a time impressive 1'30,388. He beat his closest rival, Francesco Bagnaia, by 0,145 seconds.
Behind him, the young Peter Acosta surprised by taking third place, demonstrating the competitiveness of the KTM and above all its talent. Maverick Vinales et Fabio DiGiannantonio also performed strongly, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. Jack Miller finished the day in sixth position, following a competitive group including Aleix Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli et Marco Bezzecchi. fabio quartararo, racing at home, narrowly obtained the last direct qualifying place for Q2.
The day was less favorable for Marc Marquez, who after an early fall in turn 12, will participate in Q1. The pilot Ducati was not injured in the incident, but the fall added pressure on his shoulders for the rest of the weekend. Enea Bastianini et Alex Marquez, will also have to participate in Q1 after their mixed performances.
Brad Binder had a particularly difficult day with two falls at turn 13, after the one in the morning, while Jack Miller et Franco Morbidelli narrowly avoided similar incidents.
The weather remained mild with almost summer-like conditions at the circuit, where the air temperature reached 25 degrees Celsius and the track temperature reached 29 degrees. This first day of testing promises an exciting weekend of racing, where drivers will need to make the most of each session to position themselves advantageously for Sunday's race.
What will this last free practice session have in store for us before entering the turmoil of qualifying? 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) | 1'30.388 Jorge Marin (See here) |
| FP2 | 1'31.898 Maverick Vinales (See here) | 1'30.033 Maverick Vinales |
| 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) |
We are live from the French GP at Le Mans: welcome everyone!!
Who will Pecco's teammate be for 2025? Your predictions are here and now!
who will be @PeccoBagnaia's teammate in 2025? 🔴
Everyone wants to know the answer to that question but we want to know your opinion! 🤔 Will it be @ Bestia23, @ 88jorgemartin, @marcmarquez93 or another rider? 👀 Vote below! 👇#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/5tcgxNicz2
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 10, 2024
Once is not usual at Le Mans, the weather is great!!
Qualifying is looming but first, there's #MotoGP FP2! 🔧
Keep up with everything with our #VideoPass free trials ➡️ https://t.co/tqy6mZ6Oib#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 https://t.co/fR7vkm3EET
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 11, 2024
The last free session will begin for 30 minutes
It's 19° in the air and 26° on the track...and in the stands, the temperature is gradually rising!!! The fans came in droves... the attendance record will probably be broken this weekend at home!
Let's go for the MotoGP show!
30 minutes on the clock and then we'll go straight into qualifying 💨
FP2 begins now! 🚦#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/vriIYVyBaw
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 11, 2024
It is Miller which signs the reference time in 1.32.953s. He is ahead of Acosta, Zarco, Binder and Oliveira.
Martin quickly regained control with a lap time of 1.32.734s. Miller responds and sets a time in 1.31.883s
Miller holds on in front in 1.31.399s, while behind the times the times heat up: Oliveira, Martin, RFernandez and Vinales complete the top5. Quartararo is 9th, Zarco 16th
A flurry of improvements already! 📈@jackmilleraus takes top spot 🔥#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/nSoAiu0WfT
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 11, 2024
AMarquez in turn sets the best time in 1.31.266s. Bagnaia is in ambush followed by Espargaro, Miller and Martin. There are 20 minutes left in this session.
AMarquez crashes in turn 8
He had just set the fastest time 💔@ alexmarquez73 goes down at T8 💥#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/GGa2NX3pFs
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 11, 2024
Motorcycle change test..A few drops of rain would be expected for tomorrow..
Bike swap practices spotted 👀🔄#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/1tjggVV0U1
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 11, 2024
The French are respectively 9th (Quartararo) and 20th (Zarco)
15 minutes from the finish, the drivers are in the box...in order to fine-tune the last settings...
They're on the scene again! Who will pick up AMarquez, best time in 1.31.266s for the moment?
11 minutes are displayed on the clock before the end of the session and the top10 is composed as follows: AMarquez, Bagnaia, Vinales, Espargaro, Miller, Martin, Acosta, MMarquez, Quartararo and Bastianini.
Final stretch in FP2 🔚
And the pace is hotting up! @marcmarquez93 is the first one to improve 👊
But watch out for @ Bestia23 and @ 88jorgemartin! #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/FpzZLRqQsR
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 11, 2024
We entered the last 6 minutes of this free session: Martin moved to the front to signal the best time in 1.31.249s. But Bastianini responds and takes control in 1.31.236s.
Bagnaia goes on the offensive and with 2 minutes to go takes the best time in 1.31.105s. But Vinales responded instantly with a time of 1.31.033s.
End of session: Vinales finishes ahead of Bagnaia, Bastianini, Martin and AMarquez
Nanananana BatMav! 🦇
Maverick edges out @PeccoBagnaia by 0.072s 💪#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/zONRXd67ph
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 11, 2024
MotoGP, France FP2: times
Credit classification motogp.com