MotoGP
Published on May 10, 2024 • 14:55 PM by André Lecondé

MotoGP, France, Practice LIVE: Jorge Martin retakes Bagnaia's record, second place, Acosta third, and Quartararo through to Q2

This is already a significant moment in this French Grand Prix with this session which will decide who will go directly into Q2.

France

The French Grand Prix got off to a flying start with Pramac Ducati Team's Jorge Martin setting the benchmark time in the first free practice session for the MotoGP class. Riding his Ducati, Martin set a benchmark time of 1'31.421, beating his closest competitors with a daring soft rear tire strategy.

The young prodigy of Team KTM, Peter Acosta, came dangerously close to Martin, finishing the session just 0.237 seconds behind him. Acosta continues to surprise in his first season in the premier class, showing once again that he is a talent to watch.

Maverick Vinales its Aprilia Factory completed the leading trio, by a very fine margin of 0.257 seconds from Martin. Behind him, the duo Ducati composed ofAeneas Bastianini and of Pecco Bagnaia also showed strength, finishing in fourth and fifth place respectively, demonstrating both flying lap speed and solid pace for the race.

The sixth position was awarded to Alex Marquez of Ducati Gresini, closely followed by Aleix Espargaro on the other Aprilia, Brad Binder from KTM, and the other two Ducati from Marc Marquez of Gresini Racing and Marco Bezzecchi of VR46 Racing Team.

A little further down the ranking, Franco Morbidelli of Ducati Pramac ranked 12th, just ahead of the best Yamaha ridden by alex rins in 13th position, highlighting the struggle of Japanese machines to keep pace.

The session was particularly difficult for the drivers Honda, with Joan mir et Luca marini closing the list, the latter showing a significant delay of almost two seconds compared to the leader. This performance raises questions about the competitiveness of Honda in the current conditions of the championship.

This first free practice session at Le Mans highlighted the contenders for the title, while exposing the challenges that some manufacturers still face. Here we have arrived at the Practice, and it is with this session that the qualifying scheme will be solidified with the constitution of the groups for Q1 and Q2 on Saturday. 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) 1'30.388 Jorge Marin (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 still radiant at Le Mans with 25° in the air and 38° on the track. In just under an hour, we will know which ten drivers advanced directly to Q2. This will be decided at the end of the session. THE Ducati were strong in FP1 this morning, but Aprilia et KTM should also have realistic chances.

bagnaia still holds the lap record here in 1'30.450 minutes since 2022. It is very possible that it will fall today. Martin has already achieved a time of 1'31.421 in FP1. The lap record should be broken at the latest tomorrow during qualifying. Here we go ! Many riders head straight to the track, some of them have already put on a soft and fresh rear. It is therefore very possible that we will see attacks on the clock from the start.

It is interesting to note that the drivers Aprilia and George Martin, test the hard front tire in preparation for the race… Marc Marquez crashes at turn 12. 

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Meanwhile, Maverick Vinales took the first provisional time by stopping the clock in 1'31.678. Pecco Bagnaia also climbs, placing himself behind Vinales only 66 thousandths from the driver Aprilia.

Peter Acosta is a solid third and leader at KTM since Brad Binder his second fall of the day ... 

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https://twitter.com/MotoGP/status/1788921503246946509

Here is a provisional ranking after 40 minutes of exercise:

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After the first run, the drivers return to the pits. Vinales is at the top of the ranking ahead Bagnaia, Acosta, Binder, Martin, Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi, Espargaró, Marc Marquez et Quartararo. There are 19 drivers in one second.

For the troops' second major outing, no driver put on new tires; they are now working on race pace with worn tires. Let's see if anyone can follow the early days of Vinales. At the rear, the choice of tires for the race seems quite clear, the softs are clearly the preferred choice. Alone Honda is currently experimenting with this medium. At the front, the situation is more complicated, with a 50:50 variation between medium and hard.

bastianini with a good lap, he achieved the best time in the first two sectors. However, he then brakes in the chicane of turns 9 and 10. He has to take a shortcut and the lap time is canceled.

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fabio quartararo is currently giving reason for hope to local supporters. He is in the top ten in tenth place and is only 0,319 seconds behind. His race pace doesn't look bad either, it was only four tenths slower than Vinales. But halfway through the session, he lost his place in the top ten, bastianini moves to seventh place. By Giannantonio also improved and is now fifth. Bastianini puts in another good lap and is now third, just 0,109 seconds behind. It is now on the same pace as Vinales and almost 1 to 2 tenths ahead of his teammate Wetia. As we know, he won here in 2022.

Martin takes the lead 1'31.305… And this with an eleven turns front tire and a 19 turns rear tire. Straight from Miller at turns 3-4. After his slide, the other KTM rider Brad Binder gets back on the road and now with the hard front tire. Binder achieves the third best time.

Ranking as the last quarter of an hour approaches:

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Pecco Bagnaia slams a 1'31.235 but it's Aleix Espargaró with its Aprilia who surprises everyone with a 1'31.113. All with fresh tires. Then arises DIGGIA! 1'30.683 , two tenths of a second from the track record. The intractable Acosta is second… Fabio Quartararo is eighth and Raul Fernandez pushes Marc Marquez out of the top 10. 10 minutes left.

Jorge Martin attack and there he is in 1'30.531 in the lead. We're entering the last five minutes. The suspense is at its peak ! A moment of shock for Franco Morbidelli. He also came close to the side of the track on the right-hand turn towards the Dunlop chicane and crashed into the gravel bed, but remained there. Meanwhile, his teammate at Pramac, Martin, takes the lead. He leads in front Di Giannantonio, Acosta, Bagnaia, Bastianini, Vinales, Miller, Quartararo, Bezzecchi et I will espargaro. Marc Marquez remains in the pits before his last attempt and must hold on because he is only twelfth.

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I will espargaro did well and moved up to 3rd position. Bezzecchi also improved and finished in 6th place. The bike went crazy for Marc Marquez , forced to abandon his turn. He will have to get back on track to try to get back into the top 10. bastianini fall. As Brad Binder : This is his third!

The yellow flags come out before the checkered flag, the time for George Martin to set a new record in 1'30.388. Marc Marquez embarks on a final round. But he misses the top 10 where we find Fabio Quartararo which therefore goes to Q2! zarco is twentieth.

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

France

Credit classification : motogp.com