HJC Helmets Grand Prix of France

FIM MotoGP World Championship

Bugatti Circuit

Le Mans, France

May 18, 2018

Free Practice Two Results (all on Michelin tires):

1. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy (Ducati), 1:31.936

2. Marc Marquez, Spain (Honda), 1:32.104

3. Valentino Rossi, Italy (Yamaha), 1:32.179

4. Maverick Vinales, Spain (Yamaha), 1:32.204

5. Johann Zarco, France (Yamaha), 1:32.279

6. Jack Miller, Australia (Ducati), 1:32.302

7. Pol Espargaro, Spain (KTM), 1:32.414, crash

8. Dani Pedrosa, Spain (Honda), 1:32.466

9. Aleix Espargaro, Spain (Aprilia), 1:32.572

10. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain (Ducati), 1:32.576

11. Cal Crutchlow, UK (Honda), 1:32.586, crash

12. Tito Rabat, Spain (Ducati), 1:32.617

13. Danilo Petrucci, Italy (Ducati), 1:32.647, crash

14. Andrea Iannone, Italy (Suzuki), 1:32.752

15. Alex Rins, Spain (Suzuki), 1:32.803

16. Alvaro Bautista, Spain (Ducati), 1:32.851

17. Takaaki Nakagami, Japan (Honda), 1:33.072, crash

18. Bradley Smith, UK (KTM), 1:33.318

19. Hafizh Syahrin, Malaysia (Yamaha), 1:33.435

20. Franco Morbidelli, Italy (Honda), 1:33.667, crash

21. Scott Redding, UK (Aprilia), 1:33.830, crash

22. Karel Abraham, Czech Republic (Ducati), 1:33.942

23. Thomas Luthi, Switzerland (Honda), 1:34.089

24. Xavier Simeon, Belgium (Ducati), 1:34.311

More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech3:

Strong start for Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo on home soil

With high motivation Johann Zarco initiated his and the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team’s home Grand Prix at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans in great form. The French star pleased his numerous fans with the fifth fastest time in FP1 and FP2 on Friday as the best independent team rider of the MotoGP World Championship.

Meanwhile, Hafizh Syahrin was learning the French track on the big machine in the course of the first day of action and improved impressively with each run to eventually finish in P19, just 1.499 seconds off the top. Both,Syahrin and Zarco are thrilled about the support of the French crowd and can’t wait to be back on track tomorrow morning at 9.55 local time for the third Free Practice of the fifth round in 2018.

Johann Zarco

Position: 5th – Time: 1’32.279 – Laps: 40

“This was a good first day here in France, the weather was really nice, although it was a long time ago, that we had such fresh condition, which were even there with the sun. Therefore, I needed to take care with the tyres, because you feel that you have less grip, but the Yamaha is usually working well here and my feeling was coming good quickly. We did a solid job throughout the day. In the afternoon we were competitive but were still missing something. We hope to have good conditions tomorrow again to find this step, which will for sure help me a lot and then I think, we will be able to be fast on every lap.“

Hafizh Syahrin

Position: 19th – Time: 1’33.667 – Laps: 40

“We’ve done the first day in a good way, also my confidence is coming back after the crash from Texas and also the condition of my body is a lot better like in the beginning of the season. Now I try to find some extra confidence on the brakes, because I always have a strange feeling at the exit of the first corner and I don’t know why. But step by step we are getting closer and we’re also not far from the best rookie and I think I just need to do more laps, trying to understand the bike better and change my riding style a bit. On the M1 we did just small things with the setup, so it’s up to me now to find a good compromise with my riding while getting used to the bike more and more.”

More, from a press release issued by Angel Nieto Team:

BAUTISTA TARGETS Q2 SPOT IN FRANCE

Angel Nieto Team rider closes the first day 9 tenths off the top spot and 3 tenths outside the Top 10. Karel Abraham places 20th

The French GP action got underway even before the riders had taken to the track, as three announced contract renewals through to 2020. With the announcements, half the grid is already confirmed for the next two seasons before the fifth race of the year. On the combined timesheet from FP1 and FP2, Andrea Dovizioso’s 1:31.936 lap was the fastest lap at the French track. Behind him, Marc Márquez and Valentino Rossi closed the top three, and up to sixteen riders finished less than a second behind the leader.

Ángel Nieto Team rider Álvaro Bautista aims to get into Q2 tomorrow, either by placing among the top ten in the third free practice or being one of the top two in Q1. He feels confident after an improved feeling that has continued since the Saturday of the Spanish Grand Prix through the subsequent test at the Jerez track. Today he was 3 tenths outside the top 10 and 9 off the pacesetter. Teammate Karel Abraham finished twentieth. The Czech rider will continue working tomorrow to improve his race pace and be able to fight for a good result at Le Mans.

16th Álvaro Bautista 1:32.851 (41 laps): “My feeling with the bike is good, although it is not reflected in the position we took today: I am sixteenth but I am less than 3 tenths off the top 10 and 9 tenths off the fastest rider. Everything is very tight, but it has been a positive day: we tested some modifications that we made to the bike at the Jerez test and we did not notice much difference. I feel good on the bike, which I think is ultimately what matters. I am liking it more all the time. Tomorrow morning the track will be delicate and cold, so it might be hard to improve my time in FP3, although I think it is feasible to enter directly into Q2 because we are only 3 tenths from the cut-offtime. If not, we will try in the afternoon, but that is our goal: To try to enter the top twelve for the GRID.”

22nd Karel Abraham 1:33.942 (36 laps): “It seems that we are getting close to finding a good pace, but we are not where we want to be yet. I also had my best lap scrubbed for exceeding the limits of the track, and that was when I had lowered my time by half a second. Anyway, even with that time, we would still need to go faster. We have to keep working hard to get a better result for tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia Gresini Racing:

GOOD FEELING AND PROVISIONAL Q2 FOR ALEIX ESPARGARÓ

SCOTT REDDING HAS MORE DIFFICULT SESSIONS

With 16 riders all within less than a second of one another, the details make the difference. The first two MotoGP practice sessions at Le Mans resulted in tightly packed standings where Aleix Espargaró (fresh from renewing his contract) did the ninth best time, riding his RS-GP to a provisional spot in Q2. The Spanish rider tackled all of FP1 with the same tyres, finding the right confidence on the French asphalt and then improving his pace during FP2, finishing with a time of 1’32.572.

Scott Redding had some difficulties, even falling victim to a sliding crash during FP2. His lack of feeling kept him from being incisive and moving up the standings any farther than twentyfirst place.

ALEIX ESPARGARO’

“We got off on the right foot today. Le Mans is not a particularly tricky track and the times are always rather close, so it doesn’t take much to lose positions. The grip is good, but we saw a lot of crashes and that is strange for MotoGP. We earned a spot in the top 10 and a provisional Q2 position which is always an encouraging result at the end of the first two sessions. We’ll keep working tomorrow, especially on tyre choice. There isn’t much difference in lap times between the options, but in a 27-lap race, the difference becomes important.”

SCOTT REDDING

“Today I struggled to find the feeling with the RS-GP and I am having trouble understanding why. When I tried to push in spite of the poor grip, I went down – fortunately without any consequences. We are using the same settings I used when I was feeling good in the Mugello tests, but it feels like a completely different bike. We need to analyse the situation well in order to find the source of the problems and improve tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Alma Pramac Racing:

Grand Prix de France – Free Practices

#FrenchGP FP. Strong start for Jack at Le Mans (6th). Petrux very confident despite the crash

The weekend of the Grand Prix de France starts with very positive indications for Alma Pramac Racing. Jack Miller is in great shape and finishes the first day of free practice in sixth place. Danilo Petrucci also had a good feeling but a crash before the FP2’s time attack didn’t allow him to take the Top 10.

The Australian rider has been fast since the first run of the FP1s, finishing 23 thousandths off the Top 10 without using soft tires. The pace was also positive in the FP2 and in the time attack Jack made the most of the soft tire, taking P6, 3 tenths of a second from Andrea Dovizioso’s best time.

After his convincing fourth place at Jerez, Petrux confirmed his confidence and since the FP1 his pace has been very interesting. The rider from Terni was also strong in FP2 but a crash 10 minutes before the end of the session forced him to change his bike. In the time attack, Petrux pushed hard but couldn’t recreate the ideal conditions to get the Top 10, finishing anyway less than a tenth of a second from the hypothetical direct qualification to Q2.

P13 Danilo Petrucci – 1’32.647

“I am satisfied because the feeling is positive. Unfortunately, the FP2 crash ruined our plans. I couldn’t get the front tire up to temperature and the crash was a bit strange. We are still very close to the Top 10 and I think that tomorrow we will have all the potential to access Q2 directly”.

P6 Jack Miller – 1’32.302

“Lap by lap I found a good rhythm. This morning I had a bit of bad luck with a crash without any particular consequences but that delayed a bit our work. However, I am extremely satisfied with what we have done. In the afternoon the pace was excellent. Tomorrow we will have to improve to be in the Top 10”.

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki ECSTAR:

TWO TIGHT SESSIONS TO KICK OFF LE MANS WEEKEND

Andrea Iannone: 14th – 1:32.752 (+ 0.816)

Alex Rins: 15th – 1:32.803 (+ 0.867)

• Iannone maintaining good pace in both sessions.

•Alex Rins working on setup and learning track.

•Chilly start making track conditions tricky.

The opening day of the French GP saw cold temperatures in the morning as the riders took to the resurfaced track for the first time, and very tight times in the afternoon.

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins used the FP1 session to become acquainted with conditions and find the ideal set-up. Iannone found a good rhythm using the soft-medium tyre combination and the aerodynamic fairing, he dropped into the 1:32 bracket and was just 0.443 seconds from the morning’s fastest time. The Italian was also quick in two out of the four sectors, hinting at potential improvements for the GSX-RR around the French track. Rins approached the session as a MotoGP “rookie”, having missed last year’s Le Mans GP due to injury, he used the entire session to find settings.

In FP2 the track was much warmer and Iannone, largely using the medium-medium combination, hovered around the Top 10 for the majority of the session. Both riders improved their times but finished FP2 in 14th and 15th respectively, although they were not far from the top time in the tight field. Tomorrow’s FP3 session will be crucial as the riders aim to cement a place in Q2.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager

“It’s been a difficult Friday, and the riders are very close – 16 riders covered by just one second – so we need to be almost ‘perfect’ to get to the front. Of course there is more to do in terms of improving bike settings, so we will work tonight, checking all the data and aiming to improve, and we’ll try again tomorrow morning. Let’s see if we can stay in the Top 10 following the adjustments we make overnight.”

Andrea Iannone

“This morning I found that we needed to improve in some areas, and this afternoon we didn’t improve a lot, but nevertheless everything is going in a good way and we have a clear idea of what we need for tomorrow. The main point is to improve a little bit more, and we hope for this. I feel calm because we worked well at the Mugello test, and we don’t feel the need to change a lot of settings. We struggled a bit today with the braking point and in some of the narrow corners, and when we improve this we can be on a very good level.”

Alex Rins

“Well, I think today was good, we focused a little bit on trying to get confidence with this track because it’s the first time for me here with the MotoGP bike. But I think that the most important thing here today was data and completing laps so the technical guys can try and get a better setup for tomorrow. I think tomorrow I can improve, today the track conditions were OK but I was trying different tyres to test the degradation, and so I never tried a fast lap.”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP FIND FORM IN FRENCH FRIDAY FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi kicked off the Grand Prix de France on a positive note. He was on the pace from the very start of FP1 and kept his performance consistent throughout the afternoon, securing third place today in the combined free practice session times. Teammate Maverick Viñales was also looking competitive on day one in Le Mans. He worked hard to find the right setting to suit the technical French track and ended the day in fourth position.

Le Mans (France), 18th May 2018

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi immediately displayed a solid pace today. He used the two sunny free practice sessions to the fullest to prepare for Sunday’s Grand Prix de France, and secured third place in the combined results. Maverick Viñales carried out his usual strategy, gradually building up his speed throughout the free practice sessions. At the end of FP1 he made it clear he is set on being a strong contender this weekend when he posted a provisional fastest lap on used tyres, and kept up the good work in the afternoon when he took fourth place in the combined timings.

Rossi was quick to get into the swing of things during the morning. He topped the provisional standings just a few minutes into FP1, before he put his attention to working on his YZR-M1’s set-up. He went on to look for a good tyre combination and booked progress throughout the session. He finished in sixth place with a 1’32.777s lap, 0.301s from the front.

The Italian duplicated his strong form in the afternoon. Just ten minutes into the session he was flashing red sectors in the first half of his lap, but wasn’t able to complete the time attack as he ran into traffic. However, it wasn’t until the last ten minutes that the pace really heated up. After tweaking the balance of his bike, the Doctor climbed up to third in the ranking order with a 1’32.179s lap, 0.243s from first.

Viñales was looking strong in the cooler first free practice. Having found a good basis for his bike at the start of FP1, it only took him four minutes to put his Yamaha on the number one spot. After spending most of the remainder of the session trying further setting options, he successfully put the final result to the test at the end. The young gun set the provisional fastest time in fourfold in the final few minutes to ultimately take over at the top of the timesheets with a best lap of 1’32.543s. This time was strong enough to secure him third place, 0.067s from the leader, when the chequered flag came out.

The Spaniard kept chipping away at his provisional fastest lap time from FP1 in the afternoon. He first put in some testing labour again, preferring to use the start of the session to try new set-up changes for his Yamaha, before putting his head down in the later stages. Like clockwork, he went into the pits with ten minutes remaining, to make a quick tyre change before setting his best lap of the day, a 1’32.204s, for fourth place, 0.268s from the top of the timesheets.

As nearly all MotoGP riders improved their times in the afternoon session, Rossi and Viñales hold their third and fourth place respectively in the combined free practice timesheets.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

Today’s two FP sessions were a good start to the weekend. Even though we knew Le Mans could be a good track for us, we still had some reservations before we started FP1. Both Valentino and Maverick have good pace and speed and feel very comfortable on their bikes. Despite the fact that Maverick spent too much time in the garage during FP2, we have been able to compare different bike settings and tyre specs with both riders, finding good information. The track temperatures changed considerably from FP1 to FP2, but we managed the situation. We expect it to be a very challenging weekend and we are confident that we can make further improvements on the bikes‘ balance for tomorrow‘s FP3.

VALENTINO ROSSI

We started the French GP in a good way. I was quite strong in FP1 and I also had a good pace in the afternoon with the hotter temperatures. I tried some different setting options and some different tyres and at the end I did a good lap. It‘s very positive to stay within the top-3, even if it‘s just Friday. At this track the bike works very well, so you can push and it looks like our pace is not too bad on a used tyre. It‘s still early on in the weekend, we still have to decide on different things – especially the tyres, but also the balance of the bike – but it was a good start.

MAVERICK VIÑALES

This afternoon we tried some new things that didn‘t work, so we lost a lot of time in the box. I couldn‘t get into the rhythm, especially with the medium front tyre, because I need to do a couple of laps on it to trust it. However, at the end I felt good and did a good two laps, it was consistent. For tomorrow, I think we still have things to improve on, but the bike is working well all around the track and I feel comfortable on it. I‘m quite confident that I can fight for a good place in qualifying tomorrow. In FP2 the bike was working quite good, I just don‘t think we used the best tyre option. Overall I‘m happy, because the rhythm is there when I push, so I can make a good lap time. Let‘s see what happens tomorrow, but so far I feel good.

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Confident start to the French Grand Prix for the Repsol Honda Team

Day one of the French Grand Prix concluded positively for the Repsol Honda Team at the Bugatti Circuit, with both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa making it into the provisional top 10 in a very tight combined classification.

The Championship leader in particular enjoyed a very successful start to the weekend, following his usual pattern of work focused on race setup and lapping mostly on used tyres. He ended FP1 and FP2 in first and second places, respectively.

Dani Pedrosa, not yet at 100% physically, didn’t immediately hit it off with the French track in the morning free practice session, which he completed in 15th position, but he improved his pace toward the end of the afternoon stint and wrapped up the day 8th fastest, just over half a second off the top.

Marc Marquez 93

2ND 1’32.104

“Luckily we had two full dry sessions to start our work on the bike, and the weather forecasts are also pretty good for the rest of the weekend—not really a given here in Le Mans. So we had the opportunity to work on our race setup, and we concentrated on trying to understand the tyres. We tried all the rear tyres, and we just missed trying the hard front, which we want to check tomorrow. Today I did my fastest time with the hard rear spec, which had about 10 laps on it. It was a positive first day but we need to keep working, as we want to improve a bit of everything in the setup since everything seems really, really tight here.”

Dani Pedrosa 26

8TH 1’32.466

“Today I struggled a little to find a good pace because I was feeling a bit sore after testing for two days following the crash in Jerez. I wasn’t 100 per cent physically when I got on my bike this morning, so we didn’t start so well. Then we improved little by little and finished better in the afternoon, which is positive. I tried the new aerodynamics in my last run, and at this track in particular, that seems to offer a bit of help in controlling the wheelies. The bike seems more balanced in general, but we want to work on it more to understand things better. Tomorrow we’ll focus on the tyres, and we’ll try to adjust a few details in the bike’s setup.”

More, from a press release issued by Reale Avintia Racing:

 Positive first day at Le Mans for Reale Avintia Racing

MotoGP French GP – Le Mans

The first day of practice for the French Grand Prix went very well for the riders of Team Reale Avintia Racing.

Tito Rabat was, once again, very strong in terms of race pace and finished in twelfth position in both free practice sessions. Once again, it was apparent how competitive and hard-fought the MotoGP category is, with the 16 fastest riders separated by just nine tenths of a second. On Saturday, Rabat hopes to improve a bit more and to make a direct move to Q2.

For team-mate Xavier Simeon, the Le Mans circuit felt like a new race track. The MotoGP rookie improved his lap times every time he took to the track, but hasn’t found the best set-up for the “stop and go” characteristics of this race track yet. The Belgian rider also hopes to make a step forward on Saturday and aims at improving his position on the starting grid for the race on Sunday.

Tito Rabat | 1’32.617 | P12

“We did a good job and scored twelfth place in the morning’s result that we were able to confirm in the afternoon. The best part was that we were able to improve our race pace and the feeling with the bike. Once again, the times are very close together. We are in twelfth place, but only six tenths of a second behind the fastest guy on the track. We are sure about our set-up and also made up our minds about the right tyre choice for the race. Tomorrow we will pull all stops for a good grid position, even though our focus remains on the race on Sunday, like always. We still need to improve on our speed for one single hot lap, but we are working on this and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

Xavier Simeon | 1’34.311 | P24

“This first day at Le Mans was like the first day at school for me. Like at the last race at Austin, it was tough to go out on a track where I never rode a MotoGP bike before. It took me some times to set my reference points and to find the right lines with this motorcycle. Al things considered, we made a good step in the right direction and we improved every time I went out on the track. I still can’t push hard enough at the corner entries and I don’t pick up the bike early enough, which is why I cover more distance than the others and lose a bit. But we are analysing every detail in order to do much better on Saturday.”

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Castrol:

CRUTCHLOW HOPEFUL AFTER DAY ONE AT LE MANS

LCR Honda CASTROL rider Cal Crutchlow ended Friday practice for the French Grand Prix in 11th spot on the timesheets, but was not too downbeat after again demonstrating his undoubted pace. A late fall in FP2 scuppered the Briton’s hopes of a higher finish, but his performance during the morning session will leave him in confident mood ahead of qualifying on Saturday.

Looking to bounce back after disappointing outings in Austin and Jerez, Crutchlow showcased his speed early on by going fourth fastest in FP1 as conditions helped at a clear and sunny Le Mans circuit. He was hopeful of building on that performance in FP2, but suffered frustration as he went down at turn five late in the session to end the day just outside the top ten.

Cal Crutchlow – 11th

(1’32.586 – lap 6 of 18)

“I hate being outside the top 10 in an FP2 mainly for the sake of sleeping well tonight, but we have the pace – there is no doubt about that. Overall, I felt very good today and although I didn’t feel that good with the front of the bike, I felt on the pace. We used the hard rear tyre at the end (of FP2) and I kept the front tyre from the start of the session, but it was just not in its best condition, it was as simple as that.

“I nearly went down at turn one and then I saved it for a lap later at turn five! It was completely my own mistake, I was a little bit wide and I should have just gone straight and not made the corner, but I tried to tip in and hit the bump. But I’m pleased to be on the pace and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.” 

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Idemitsu:

HECTIC OPENING DAY FOR NAKAGAMI

LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider Takaaki Nakagami endured an eventful first day of the French Grand Prix as he went 17th fastest at a sunny Le Mans. After solid progress in the morning, the Japanese rookie experienced a big crash during FP2 but, having walked away unharmed, was able to get back out and make further progress towards the end of the session.

Nakagami acknowledged he’d been shaken by the nature of his fall, but remains upbeat about his chances after avoiding serious injury. The 26-year-old now plans to rest up before focusing on further improvement in Saturday’s FP3 session.

Takaaki Nakagami– 17th

(1’33.072 – lap 13 of 14)

“The beginning of the session was quite good, but I then had a crash at turn nine, a big highside. It was a nasty crash and I’m really lucky that I have no serious injuries. Of course, tomorrow morning I might feel pain everywhere, but at the moment I just have a little pain in my right ankle.

“After the crash it took me a little bit of time, but I went back out in the last ten minutes and we improved the lap times which was good. I think today we just need to keep calm, have a good sleep and look forward to FP3.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

16 in a second: newly-signed Dovizioso in front as battle commences in France

Ducati lead Honda and Yamaha on the opening day in Le Mans, with Rossi in P3

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), fresh from signing a new two-year contract with the Borgo Panigale factory, was the quickest man on the opening day at the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France, setting a new circuit record with a 1:31.936 – the only rider to delve into the 1:31s. FP1 and World Championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) ended the day in second, 0.168 behind and after having trialed a new aero fairing, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) only another 0.075 seconds back on board his M1 as the ‘Doctor’ ended the day P3 overall.

Despite track temperatures rising from 19 degrees to over 40 degrees between FP1 and FP2, there were a whole host of crashes early in the session. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Scott Redding (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), LCR Honda Idemitsu rider Takaaki Nakagami and Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) all fell, riders ok.

Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) ended the day fourth overall, the Spaniard was third in FP1, but left it late to jump up into the top five in FP2. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was fifth in front of his home crowd, with the Frenchman also fifth in FP1, confirming his solid pace in Le Mans.

Alma Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller was sixth on the combined Free Practice timesheets, the Australian was in and around the top eight throughout FP2 and could be looking good for an automatic Q2 spot after ending FP1 in P12. Pol Espargaro had a good showing on the KTM, despite his early crash, and ended the day seventh quickest, building on his P10 in FP1.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), sporting a new aerodynamic fairing in FP2, jumped up to eighth on his final lap to grab a provisional Q2 spot. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) impressed again to finish ninth in FP2, getting himself into the top ten after ending the morning session in P14. Rounding out the top ten was Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team), the Spaniard finished eighth this morning, dropping two positions in the afternoon.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), who was inside the top three for most of the session, crashed on his final run to end the day outside the top ten in P11 after a flurry of quick times from the riders on fresh rubber – rider ok.

With less than a second covering the top 16, the battle to make it into Q2 should be very interesting tomorrow morning, with FP3 getting underway at 09:55 local time (GMT +2).

Schr?tter shines on opening day at Le Mans

The recovering German pips Bagnaia and Marquez on the combined timesheets

Despite suffering from shoulder ligament damage, Marcel Schr?tter (Dynavolt Intact GP) topped the Moto2™ combined Free Practice timesheets on Friday at the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France. The German was 0.081 seconds ahead of World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46), who was second overall despite a big crash in FP1, with Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) third overall and just 0.093 behind Schr?tter’s fastest time. The Spaniard was also a faller, crashing at the final corner late in FP2 – rider ok.

Despite conditions seemingly more suited to setting quicker lap times this afternoon, both Schr?tter and Marquez failed to improve on their FP1 times, with Bagnaia going over half a second quicker in FP2 to top the session. Just behind his teammate in fourth on the combined times was rookie sensation and reigning Moto3™ World Champion Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), who finished FP2 in second.

Despite finishing P19 in FP2 and crashing twice in the session, Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) was fifth overall on Friday – his FP1 time an indication he could fight it out for a front row start in qualifying. Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2’s Simone Corsi put in a strong showing in FP2, climbing up to sixth overall after finding himself P17 after FP1. Argentina race winner Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) crashed at Turn 8 mid way through the second Free Practice session, however he still managed to improve on his FP1 time by over 0.6 seconds to end the day seventh fastest – rider ok.

Another faller in FP2 was Championship contender Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo). The Portuguese rider was ok, improving one position up to eighth in FP2 from this morning. Rookie Romano Fenati (Marinelli Snipers Team) improved from P13 in FP1 to end the day P9, setting his quickest time right at the end.

Sam Lowes (Swiss Innovative Investors), who suffered a crash in the morning, rounded out the top ten on his KTM machine and was one of four riders in the top ten to not go quicker in the second session. Home favourite Fabio Quartararo (MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing) was just outside the top ten after both sessions. The Frenchman improved by over 0.8 seconds in the afternoon, jumping up from P15 in FP1 to end the day P12.

Jerez winner Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) and teammate Hector Barbera both crashed in FP2, with the Italian finishing the day just outside the top ten in P11 – slipping five places from his FP1 position.

Tune in at 10:55 local time (GMT +2) when the intermediate class head back out on track for FP3.

Antonelli takes charge on Day 1

The Italian leads the way on Friday, closely followed by Toba and Bastianini

Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse), who was 20th in FP1, was the rider to beat on the opening day at the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France, setting his quickest time of FP2 with two minutes to go. Despite a late crash in the session at Turn 11, second quickest in the lightweight class was an awesome performance from the first ever Asia Talent Cup Champion, Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia), with Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) rounding out the top three.

After a chilly morning in northern France, track temperatures were up and the lap times for most of the grid tumbled. Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) cemented P4 in the afternoon, improving his time but not improving his position, with World Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PrustelGP) in fifth, jumping up one position in FP2.

Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0), who’ll start from the back of the grid on Sunday due to a penalty, was sixth quickest on the combined timesheets, improving his time on his final run of the day after finishing this morning’s session down in P15. Del Conca Gresini Moto3 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio was back on track in the afternoon after a big off this morning and the Italian ended the day in P7 – important track time after last year’s podium finisher completed just six laps in FP1.

Behind him on Friday was FP1 leader Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3), who was one of only four riders who failed to improve their time in the afternoon; the Spaniard eighth quickest on the opening day in Le Mans. Jerez winner Philipp Oettl (Südmetall Schedl GP Racing) confirmed his strong pace this weekend in P9, with Andrea Migno (Angel Nieto Team Moto3) rounding out the top ten.

Migno and rookie Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) crashed in the second session – both were ok – as well as Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) and Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider), both of whom were taken to the medical centre for check-ups.

Moto3™ are back out on track for FP3 at 09:00 local time (GMT +2).

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Andrea Dovizioso celebrates new two-year agreement with Ducati Team for 2019 and 2020 seasons with provisional pole in French GP at Le Mans. Tenth place for Jorge Lorenzo after two free practice sessions

After the first day of French GP free practice at Le Mans, which ended with Andrea Dovizioso in provisional pole with a time of 1’31.936, the only man under the 1’32” mark, Ducati announced the renewal of the agreement with the Italian rider for the next two years. Dovizioso, who is already the longest-serving Ducati rider in MotoGP after joining the Bologna-based manufacturer in 2013, at the end of 2020 will have raced a Ducati continuously for eight years, thus establishing another significant record.

Tenth place went to Jorge Lorenzo, who set a time of 1’32.576 to end the day just over six-tenths slower than his team-mate.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1st (1’31.936)

“Today was a really great day for us, because we announced that the marriage with Ducati will continue for the next two years. I believe that together we have done a fantastic job so far, but it’s not enough: we want more and I’m happy that we have reached a deal that allows us to work with peace of mind to obtain better results. We’ve got two and a half seasons ahead of us, all the time we need to try and bring home the world title, which is our aim. I’m very pleased with the support that I have received from many people over the last few days: I could never have imagined staying so many years in Ducati, and ours is really a great story. Today we started off well, with a clear head and you could see that from the results. We managed to be immediately quick this morning, and then in the afternoon we made a further step forward with the set-up. I was quick both on new tyres and used ones, but we must continue to improve because there are a lot of riders who have a good pace here.”

Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team #99) – 10th (1’32.576)

“The first day here at Le Mans was quite positive, and we were able to work calmly and try some interesting solutions. My sensations are good and I think we could have improved our time and also tenth place. With the new tyre we tried one last different setting, but I wasn’t completely at ease with it and was unable to get my time down like everyone else. We surely have room for improvement for tomorrow and it will be very important to get directly into Q2. Today however I also want to congratulate Andrea and Ducati for reaching an agreement for the next two years.”