Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Le Mans MotoGP: Fabio Quartararo fastest in practice one at home

Petronas SRT Yamaha rookie Fabio Quartararo was quickest in the first practice session ahead of his home MotoGP race at Le Mans

Quartararo, who had become MotoGP's youngest-ever poleman last time out at Jerez, was the only rider to dip below 1m32s in Friday morning practice, using a pair of fresh soft tyres to lead nearest rival Andrea Dovizioso by 0.127 seconds.

Marc Marquez and Jack Miller were the class of the field in the opening minutes, taking turns out front as they traded fastest laps, with a 1m32.540s from the Honda rider edging Miller by 0.011s at the conclusion of the opening run.

From there it was another 20 minutes until Marquez tucked in behind Quartararo to lower the benchmark by a tenth.

But KTM's Pol Espargaro was soon leaping up in the classification as he grabbed Miller's tow, and his final attempt behind the Australian's Pramac Ducati took him to the top spot above Marquez.

Miller then slotted in behind Vinales and the pair took over out front with 10 minutes to go, the Miller heading Vinales initially but then dropping out of the Yamaha man's slipstream.

Now alone on track, Vinales leapfrogged Miller with a 1m23.203s, before pitting at the end of the next lap despite having gone even faster in the first three sectors.

Dovizioso came within 0.006s of ousting Vinales with a minute left on the clock, only to have his lap time cancelled due to a track limits infringement.

He then jumped ahead of Vinales at the chequered flag, and kept the lap this time, but by then Quartararo had fired in a 1m31.986s.

Danilo Petrucci joined Ducati squadmate Dovizioso in the top three, demoting Vinales to fourth place.

Marquez, who along with Vinales did not run a soft rear tyre, was fifth, 0.004s up on Espargaro and 0.005s up on Miller - who completed a top seven split by just 0.252s.

Suzuki's Joan Mir was four tenths slower than Miller in eighth place, with KTM's Johann Zarco and Yamaha's Valentino Rossi completing the top 10.

Mir was seven tenths up on his championship frontrunner team-mate Alex Rins, who ended the session in a lowly 17th place.

Rossi, who led LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow and Quartararo's team-mate Franco Morbidelli, had a mechanical failure mid-session when the chain came loose on his Yamaha and shot off across the track.

Under-pressure Honda rider Jorge Lorenzo took 14th, a tenth down on Pramac Ducati rookie Francesco Bagnaia.

Lorenzo's session was compromised by an early crash at the Garage Vert double right-hander, as he fell after running wide onto the outside kerb.

Marquez made the same mistake at the same place later in the session, but used his knee to keep the bike upright and avoid a crash.

Practice one times

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha 1m31.986s - 21
2 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m32.113s 0.127s 18
3 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1m32.193s 0.207s 20
4 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1m32.203s 0.217s 21
5 Marc Marquez Honda 1m32.233s 0.247s 20
6 Pol Espargaro KTM 1m32.237s 0.251s 19
7 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati 1m32.238s 0.252s 19
8 Joan Mir Suzuki 1m32.626s 0.640s 22
9 Johann Zarco KTM 1m32.724s 0.738s 19
10 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m32.760s 0.774s 18
11 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m32.831s 0.845s 20
12 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha 1m32.887s 0.901s 22
13 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati 1m32.982s 0.996s 17
14 Jorge Lorenzo Honda 1m33.091s 1.105s 18
15 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda 1m33.123s 1.137s 21
16 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1m33.259s 1.273s 20
17 Alex Rins Suzuki 1m33.357s 1.371s 22
18 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati 1m34.113s 2.127s 20
19 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 1m34.135s 2.149s 19
20 Miguel Oliveira Tech3 KTM 1m34.229s 2.243s 19
21 Karel Abraham Avintia Ducati 1m34.481s 2.495s 18
22 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 KTM 1m35.479s 3.493s 19


Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Miller: Espargaro told me I deserved crash after Jerez MotoGP clash
Next article Le Mans MotoGP: Maverick Vinales leads crash-filled practice

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe