MotoGP LIVE Le Mans France FP2: Zarco and Quartararo, alone in the world!

Article updated continuously until the end of the session. Like last year when she played tricks on the MotoGP riders right up to the starting grid, the weather will undoubtedly be the determining factor in this 2021 edition of the French Grand Prix.

At least this is what allows us to anticipate unfavorable forecasts and the crash festival that we attended during Moto1 FP3. Last year, the Bugatti circuit experienced 100 falls, by far the (bad) record of the season ahead of Barcelona (64), Misano (61) and Valencia (61).

Jack Miller, the winner of Jerez following the physical problem of fabio quartararo, can also be formidable in the wet et he demonstrated it again this morning in FP1 by attempting and succeeding in the daring gamble of using slick tires on a drying track ! On its momentum from Andalusia, it therefore already appears to be the favorite of the weekend, even if Johann zarco once again proved his exceptional ability to control a motorcycle on a tricky track.

For the time being, the list of pre-qualified is made up of Jack Miller, Johann Zarco, Joan Mir, Pol Espargaro, Marc Marquez, Lorenzo Savadori, Francesco Bagnaia, Miguel Oliveira, Alex Rins and Aleix Espargaro: in a way as spectacular as it is surprising, no Yamaha appears in the top 10, unlike the two Aprilias!

Will this provisional hierarchy allowing direct passage to Q2, established on a drying track, be undermined in FP2 or FP3? All the uncertainty will depend on a national weather which announces a small improvement for the moment, with even a small hope of a dry track for Sunday. In case of rain, the Michelin Power Rain are offered in Soft and Medium for the front and rear, the two rears being asymmetrical with a harder right side.

This afternoon, the sky actually seems a little less gray and the temperatures are 15° in the air and 16° on a… dry track! It is therefore probable that the audacity shown this morning by Jack Miller ultimately doesn’t pay off… at least for the moment.

The gaps being particularly tight this year, the cards are completely redistributed for this 5th round of a MotoGP World Championship currently led by 2 points by Francis Bagnaia before Fabio Quartararo. Johann zarco occupies 5th position, 2 points behind Maverick Vinales and 1 behind Joan mir : suffice to say that there is hardly any room for error for these 5 drivers who will have to try to reconcile performance and… staying on their wheels on Sunday!

By the time the 22 pilots (Esteve Rabat always replaces George Martin injured) are preparing under the lenses of Dorna's cameras, let's enjoy these few minutes of live footage thanks to the official website MotoGP.com:

Here are the past references:

MotoGP™ Le Mans	2020	2020
FP1	1'43.804 Bradley Smith (See here)	1'38.007 Jack Miller (See here)
FP2	1'34.133 Jack Miller (See here)	1'31.747 Johann Zarco (See here)
FP3	1'32.319 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
FP4	1'32.528 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Q1	1'31.952 Danilo Petrucci (See here)
Q2	1'31.315 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Warm Up	1'32.869 Franco Morbidelli (See here)
Course	Petrucci, Alex Marquez, Pol Espargaro (See here)
All time lap record	1'31.185 Johann Zarco (2018)

When the red lights go out... Alex Marquez is the quickest to hit the trail. The LCR pilot had a minor crash this morning.

All the drivers are on slicks, most of them on softs, the weather being very uncertain...

The pre-qualification bar was set at 1'41.029 by Alex Espargaro, 10th this morning and the first flying lap was completed in 1'35.466 by the same Aprilia rider: we've already forgotten this morning's times!

fabio quartararo immediately proved to be the fastest in 1'34.221 then 1'33.025 during its third pass.

Alex Espargaro fell without gravity by losing the front of his Aprilia at the Dunlop while Fabio Quartararo continues to push, in 1'32.689.

After this first run concluded by the minor fall of Francis Bagnaia at the Dunlop, Fabio Quartararo further increases his lead and achieves 1'32.120, more than half a second ahead Takaaki Nakagami, Alex Rins, Francesco Bagnaia, Johann Zarco, Maverick Vinales, Joan Mir, Marc Márquez, Alex Márquez, Pol Espargaro, Aleix Espargaro, Miguel Oliveira, Jack Miller, Valentino Rossi, Iker Lecuona, Franco Morbidelli, Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder , Danilo Petrucci, Aleix Espargaro, Lorenzo Savadori, Tito Rabat and Luca Marini.

On resumption, Alex Espargaro gets trapped again at the Dunlop as the sun begins to come out. The Noale driver returns to his box against the flow of traffic in the pitlane, engine off. To see if this results in a penalty...

Espargaro Pol progresses to eighth place, Valentino Rossi at the 12th, while Fabio Quartararo makes a minor mistake at the Dunlop chicane.

The Devil leaves immediately on the handlebars of his motorcycle but takes the safety lane then has to abandon his machine to return by scooter.

Jack Miller progressed to 6th place but fell at turn #7 without seriousness. The Ducati rider manages to restart his machine using his stroller and returns via the track.

Even Marc Márquez is not immune to a small error…

Johann zarco is now 4th while Joan mir enters the top 10, in provisional 7th place.

Thanks to the second soft rear tire, Valentino Rossi climbs back to 10th place 13 minutes from the checkered flag, then to 8th.

Maverick Vinales then places his Yamaha 4/10 behind that of fabio quartararo.

Eight minutes from the end of the session, John Zarco leaves with a soft rear tire in place of the medium he was using until now…

In this last phase of the session, Pol Espargaro is the first to light the partials red.

The Honda driver, then ranked 10th, placed 2nd just 17/1000 behind fabio quartararo wheras'Alex Rins makes a Dunlop mistake.

Franco Morbidelli goes back to third place, Jack Miller in the fifth, Marc Marquez in the sixth, Miguel Oliveira in the ninth.

Things don't stop there and John Zarco, then down to the ninth position, lights the third sector in red before positioning itself at 2/10 of fabio quartararo which is now in 1'31.842!

The two Frenchmen further increase their pace on the next pass, each lighting the first two sectors in red, just like Maverick Vinales, Miguel Oliveira and Takaaki Nakagami.

But in the end, while Joan mir share the fault, it's good Johann zarco who won in 1'31.747, less than a tenth ahead Fabio Quartararo, the two French relegating the rest of the peloton to no less than 4 tenths!

The last 5 minutes in video:

See you tomorrow at 09:55 a.m. for FP3!

FP2 ranking of the French MotoGP Grand Prix at Le Mans:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com