MotoGP LIVE Le Mans France FP1: Bradley Smith and Johann Zarco!

8 points between leader Fabio Quartararo and his immediate pursuer Joan Mir, 6 races to go, this is the situation which clearly shows that, barely halfway through the season, everything is in place to offer us a most captivating end to the championship !

fabio quartararo arrives at Le Mans with full confidence, after his recent victory in Barcelona and on his home territory. As he explained yesterday at a press conference, his result last year in the Bugatti (8th) does not reflect the good race pace he had.

The fact remains that the V4s took the first four places during the last edition in Sarthe, Marc Márquez taking the victory ahead of the three Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller.

This year, at least four elements must be taken into account, obviously with the absence of Marc Márquez, the resulting tightening of the championship, the new Michelin rear tires which do not make the task easy for the official drivers of Borgo Panigale, and of course the postponement of the French Grand Prix to October, with the resulting temperatures .

This morning these are 15° in the air and 14° on the ground, and for the first time this year, the track is really wet as the 22 drivers prepare for this first 45-minute session including here are the past references:

MotoGP™ Le Mans	2019	2020
FP1	1'31.986 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'43.804 Bradley Smith (See here)
FP2	1'31.428 Maverick Viñales (See here)
FP3	1'42.498 Maverick Viñales (See here)
FP4	1'39.777 Marc Márquez (See here)
Q1	1'37.667 Valentino Rossi (See here)
Q2	1'40.952 Marc Márquez (See here)
Warm up	1'32.483 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Course	Marquez, Dovizioso, Petrucci (See here)
All time lap record	1'31.185 Johann Zarco (2018)

When the red lights go out... it's this time Valentino Rossi who rushes first.

With the exception of Fabio Quartararo, Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith who remain in their box, everyone chose soft rain tires.

Jack Miller recorded the first reference in 1'50.609 at the end of his first flying lap before getting a little warm when returning to his box...

Pol Espargaro then takes over in 1'50.184 then 1'48.442.

fabio quartararo took the track one lap after his colleagues, which is still not the case for Stefan Bradl after 10 minutes into the session.

Andrea Dovizioso took the lead in 1'47.169 before handing it over to the Catalan driver from Mattighofen who broke the 1'47 mark in 1'46.925.

Unlike what happens when drivers use slicks, no one stops after fifteen minutes and everyone stays on the track.

Andrea Dovizioso took the opportunity to regain the advantage in 1'46.221 then 1'45.785.

25 minutes from the checkered flag, a little before mid-session, the drivers begin to stop, which allows us to observe a hierarchy made up of Andrea Dovizioso, Pol Espargaró, Maverick Viñales, Jack Miller, Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, Bradley Smith, Álex Rins, Aleix Espargaró, Álex Márquez, Valentino Rossi, Brad Binder, Takaaki Nakagami, Franco Morbidelli, Miguel Oliveira, Danilo Petrucci, Joan Mir , Fabio Quartararo, Tito Rabat, Cal Crutchlow, Iker Lecuona and Stefan Bradl.

Things don't stop there and Jack Miller registered 1'45.436 before conceding the leadership to his teammate Francis Bagnaia for 40/1000 when Danilo Petrucci reminds us that he likes these conditions, in 1'45.326: We then have four Ducatis in the first four places!

Nothing to impress Maverick Vinales however, which places Yamaha in 1'45.121 before Danilo Petrucci does not take back his property in 1'44.931.

At 16 minutes from the end of the session, almost all the drivers are in their box to prepare the final packing, with the exception of Franco Morbidelli who, having moved up to fifth, continued his momentum and placed his M1 in second position.

On the next pass, the Petronas driver took the top spot with a 1'44.816.

Eight minutes from the checkered flag, Cal Crutchlow remembers everyone's good memories by placing his Honda in third position.

Jack Miller then achieved 1'44.735 while half a dozen drivers lit the first sectors in red...

Firstly, it is Danilo Petrucci who regains the advantage 1'44.346 while Takaaki Nakagami fitted a medium front tire on his RC213V.

Three minutes before the checkered flag drops, Maverick Vinales imposes a 1'44.180 which clashes with the domination of the V4s...

At the last minute, Johann zarco placed second before Andrea Dovizioso recorded a time of 1'44.148, immediately beaten by Bradley Smith in 1'43.804!

In extremis, Johann zarco takes second place again.

 

FP1 classification of the French MotoGP Grand Prix:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com