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MotoGP France Le Mans FP4 LIVE: Big pace for Quartararo, ahead of Rins and Bagnaia

by | May 14

The final free practice session, FP4 will give drivers the opportunity to judge their true pace and perfect their settings in preparation for the race scheduled for tomorrow.

Qualifying for the French GP is now imminent, but before chasing the clock on the Bugatti circuit, the entrants will have to work on their race pace. Usually decisive work, but which this time could well prove to be in vain as the weather conditions could change completely tomorrow when the race starts.

Rain is in fact forecast around 14 p.m., which could make all the information gathered so far on dry conditions obsolete. In the meantime, it is the sun that reigns supreme in the Sarthe sky, with the mercury now rising to 25°C in the air and 32°C on the track.

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)

 1'31.148 Enea Bastianini
FP3

1'40.736 Marc Marquez (See here)

 1'30.537 Johann Zarco
FP4

1'32.857 Fabio Quartararo (See here)

 1'31.444 Fabio Quartararo
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)

Ideal driving conditions for the drivers, who have already had the opportunity to break the Bugatti circuit lap record on several occasions: after a first blow dealt yesterday during FP2 by Enea Bastianini by a handful of thousandths, Fabio Quartararo , Pecco Bagnaia and especially Johann Zarco all gave their best time this morning during FP3.

But we understand, the idea of ​​this fourth free practice session should logically be to work on racing pace, even if the competitors could well be tempted to use these FP4s as a launching pad for the qualifications given that conditions are expected to be different tomorrow during the event.

As for the tires, the hard tire is not currently favored by the drivers, the latter who seem to favor the soft and medium options for the moment. But nothing is set in stone yet, and the 30 minutes of driving that lie ahead could well reshuffle the cards at this level.

Let's go ! Franco Morbidelli and Jack Miller are the first to leave the pit lane!

All the riders opted for the medium at the front and the soft at the rear, with the notable exception of the Suzuki riders, whose solution is reversed.

The official Ducati are placed in the first two places.

But Fabio Quartararo is watching over the situation, and here he is inserted between Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller.

The situation is evolving quickly at the front, with Rins now at the head of the gondola ahead of Maverick Vinales and Pol Espargaro, the latter who set the best time at the end of FP1 yesterday.

Quartararo in the lead! The Yamaha rider posted a 1'31.698 while Miller found himself in the gravel trap at turn 7.

Takaaki Nakagami also performs very well. The Japanese is currently in third position.

Quartararo improves again, by 67 thousandths, with a new time of 1'31.631. The Frenchman really seems very comfortable here at Le Mans.

The official Ducati dropped to fifth and sixth positions, just ahead of the two official Hondas. Johann Zarco follows in eighth position, ahead of Jorge Martin and Joan Mir.

Straight from Marc Marquez into turn 8! Number 93 goes into the gravel trap but manages to stay on his machine and return to the track. More fear than harm for the Spaniard!

Aleix Espargaro loses the lead entering turn 7. The winner of the Argentine GP still manages to leave with his Aprilia. Like yesterday, the track seems to be playing tricks on the competitors, even though it offers optimal driving conditions. Are the pilots overdoing it?

We have just passed the halfway point, and the leading trio remains unchanged, with Quartararo in the lead ahead of Rins and Nakagami.

Martin has hardly been talked about so far but he is still showing a very interesting pace... The Madrilenian is in fact in fifth position and is currently embarking on a series of very convincing laps.

Bagnaia is progressing: the Italian makes his way to third position, wearing the medium tire both front and rear, just like Johann Zarco, who remains in 12th position for the moment.

Rins took first place in 1'31.454, 177 thousandths better than Quartararo. Behind, the sprinkler is watered while Brad Binder takes the wheel of Marc Marquez!

One second separates… the first 19 drivers. New proof of the level of competitiveness of MotoGP!

Fall of Marc Marquez at the entrance to the Chemin auxoxes! The Spaniard escaped without a scratch but that was the end of his session.

Quartararo takes first place in 1'31.444! Will the Frenchman keep his first place until the end of these FP4?

That holds up for the Niçois, who is gaining a good dose of confidence for tomorrow's race, and is ideally heading into the qualifying session which is coming up in a few minutes!

French GP – MotoGP FP4 Results:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com