MotoGP France Le Mans FP1 LIVE: Pol Espargaro takes the lead, Quartararo 4th

Casually, the MotoGP World Championship arrives at Le Mans in its 7th stage, already a third of the way through, and the situation at the top of the ranking is still fragile.

The observation is simple, the two pilots who stand out slightly, fabio quartararo and the astonishing Alex Espargaro, are the two drivers in the Top 15 who have not suffered a blank result: we say it and we constantly repeat it, in a championship without a real dominating boss, consistency pays off!

Behind, but nevertheless within firing range, Enea Bastianini, already author of two victories this year, and alex rins, in great difficulty in Spain, will be keen to catch up on the Bugatti circuit, but the threat undoubtedly comes from behind, in this case from Francis Bagnaia, the latest winner to date and in an upward spiral of confidence which could quickly place him in 3rd position at first: the Italian had a superb race in Spain, making no mistakes despite the constant pressure exerted on him by our devil national…

MotoGP™ Le Mans	2021	2022
FP1	1'38.007 Jack Miller (See here)	1'31.771 Pol Espargaro
FP2	1'31.747 Johann Zarco (See here)
FP3	1'40.736 Marc Marquez (See here)
FP4	1'32.857 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Q1	1'42.550 Lorenzo Savadori (See here)
Q2	1'32.600 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Warm Up	1'44.515 Danilo Petrucci (See here)
Course	Jack Miller, Johann Zarco, Fabio Quartararo (See here)
All time lap record	1'31.185 Johann Zarco (2018)

The other hexagonal representative, Johann zarco, received a second blank result in the Iberian Peninsula at the start of the season (after that of Argentina) but came away at the top of the IRTA test in Jerez and came to compete in his national Grand Prix at Le Mans, which he finished at 2nd position last year. Enough to start off on the right foot in front of an audience fully committed to its cause?

Unlike last year, Le Mans should not play one of its usual weather antics: temperatures should even be quite high for this time of year, while rain should not disrupt the weekend, except at race time!

While waiting to discover more, as the 24 drivers prepare for this first 45-minute free practice session, under an absolutely clear Sarthe sky accompanied by temperatures of 13°C in the air and 14°C on the ground, let's enjoy these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Let's go for this first free practice session here at Le Mans! Alex Marquez, Franco Morbidelli and Andrea Dovizioso are the first to leave the pit lane.

And it's the turn of our national championship leader, Fabio Quartararo, to walk towards his mount in preparation for his first laps this weekend on the Bugatti circuit!

All the drivers are on track, the first times will fall soon!

Alex Rins takes the lead at the end of this first loop. The Suzuki driver does not seem very perturbed by the announcement 11 days ago of his employer's early withdrawal from the championship at the end of the season.

Rins occupies first place in 1'33.314, just ahead of the winner of the last edition, Jack Miller, who will certainly be keen to achieve a good performance this weekend as the pressure begins to be felt at Ducati regarding the identity of Pecco Bagnaia's future teammate.

And it's Pol Espargaro's turn to take first place. The Repsol Honda rider is approaching the 1'32 window.

Fall of Enea Bastianini! The sun may be out this morning on the Sarthe, but the temperatures are still cool and the Italian was trapped in turn 8 by losing the front.

Rins takes first place again, and this time it's in the 1'32 window! The Spaniard is ahead of Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo, who is currently on a good run of laps.

Did you miss her? Here’s the shoulder camera again!

Vinales pushed his advantage to take the lead of the session in 1'32.418 ahead of Rins. Behind the two leaders now appears Marc Marquez, another man who will seek to confirm his recent progress here at Le Mans.

Brad Binder crashes at the first chicane! The South African lost the front of his KTM and was able to get up without problem. He left, well helped by the commissioners, whose speed and professionalism must be emphasized here.

Quartararo took off again and settled into third position, while in front it was Miller who reappeared in the lead with a mark in 1'32.345.

We can note that the majority of drivers are currently using the soft tire at the front as well as the medium at the rear.

And the best time for Quartararo! The Frenchman delighted the fans present at Le Mans, by setting the best provisional time by five thousandths over Miller!

Miller's reply! Quartararo did not keep his first place for very long, dethroned a few seconds later by his Australian rival who regained the advantage by more than two tenths. The two men engage in a magnificent first duel in Sarthe!

An update on Johann Zarco. The Pramac rider is currently in tenth position, behind Marquez and ahead of the official Ducati rider Bagnaia.

First signs of arm-pump for Quartararo? The Frenchman, who suffered from this illness last year in Jerez, did not suffer from it this year in Andalusia two weeks ago. However, we saw him in his garage with a strange utensil probably aimed at relaxing his forearms.

Miller and Pol Espargaro continue to hold the lead ahead of Quartararo, but there is no doubt that the last part of the session will give rise to a burst of improvements from the various entrants.

After Brad Binder, it is Miguel Oliveira's turn to fall at KTM. The Portuguese is having another difficult start to the weekend, having only known his victory in Indonesia as white bread so far this season.

And a first home rescue from Marc Marquez! The Spanish driver entered Turn 8 far too quickly, passing beyond the outside curb while continuing to decelerate with a lot of angle, coming close to losing control. Fortunately for number 93, he escaped thanks to a rescue of which he has the secret!

Fall for Franco Morbidelli in turn 11. The Italian-Brazilian, who benefits from a contract running until the end of 2023, must react in the next rounds after a difficult start to the year if he wants to preserve the favors of his employer.

Meanwhile, Rins climbed back into second position, between Miller still leading and Pol Espargaro.

Group shot from the French as we enter the last ten minutes of the session: Quartararo has fallen to sixth place according to the various improvements of his opponents, while Zarco has moved up to seventh position.

Another fall for Oliveira, this time in turn 6. Bagnaia, arriving hard behind him, managed to avoid him thanks to a small off-road excursion.

Quartararo attempts a final time attack to overcome Miller. The Niçois fails only 68 thousandths behind the Australian for the moment, but moves back into second position. Will he succeed in completing this first session in the lead?

The distance duel continues between Miller and Quartararo, who successively improve in the different sectors.

That's it, Quartararo has just taken the lead with a time of 1'31.912, or 49 thousandths better than Miller. The two men are the only ones playing in the 1'31 window for the moment. Quartararo remains on the track and will try to drive the point home.

Rins then Pol Espargaro take turns at the top of the timesheet! Bagnaia also progresses, and pushes Quartararo back into fourth position.

And it was ultimately Espargaro who finished this first free practice session in the lead, with a time of 1'31.771, ahead of Rins and Bagnaia. Quartararo is a solid fourth, ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Joan Mir. Miller finished the session in seventh position, ahead of Vinales and Zarco. Luca Marini completes the top 10.

Results of FP1 of the French MotoGP Grand Prix at Le Mans:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com