French Grand Prix in Le Mans – Friday live blog
On race day the order is as usual, with Moto3 first, followed by Moto2 and MotoGP. Nevertheless, the sequence in practice and qualifying for the weekend of the French Grand Prix remains reversed. As before in Jerez de la Frontera, the premier class drives on the first two days after Moto3. The reference times on the Bugatti Circuit for the individual classes are:
MotoGP: 1’31.185 Pole & all-time Lap Record (Zarco/Yamaha 2018) / 1’32.309 best Race Lap (Viñales/Yamaha 2017).
Moto2: 1’36.188 Pole & all-time Lap Record (Bagnaia 2018) / 1’36.764 best Race Lap (J. Navarro 2019).
Moto3: 1’41.399 Pole & all-time Lap Record (Masia 2020) / 1’41.690 best Race Lap (Vietti 2020).
Moto3 FP1
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 17, John MCPHEE, 218.6, 1’53.294,
2, 37, Pedro ACOSTA, 215.8, 1’53.857, 0.563 / 0.563
3, 11, Sergio GARCIA, 218.6, 1’53.890, 0.596 / 0.033
4, 2, Gabriel RODRIGO, 216.3, 1’53.933, 0.639 / 0.043
5, 24, Tatsuki SUZUKI, 216.7, 1’54.119, 0.825 / 0.186
6, 19, Andi Farid IZDIHAR, 214.4, 1’54.219, 0.925 / 0.100
7, 31, Adrian FERNANDEZ, 217.7, 1’54.250, 0.956 / 0.031
8, 12, Filip SALAC, 216.7, 1’54.252, 0.958 / 0.002
9, 16, Andrea MIGNO, 216.7, 1’54.332, 1.038 / 0.080
10, 5, Jaume MASIA, 219.1, 1’54.474, 1.180 / 0.142
11, 43, Xavier ARTIGAS, 217.2, 1’54.530, 1.236 / 0.056
12, 23, Niccolò ANTONELLI, 217.2, 1’54.621, 1.327 / 0.091
13, 54, Riccardo ROSSI, 199.4, 1’54.737, 1.443 / 0.116
14, 92, Yuki KUNII, 217.7, 1’54.761, 1.467 / 0.024
15, 40, Darryn BINDER, 214.4, 1’54.831, 1.537 / 0.070
16, 55, Romano FENATI, 215.8, 1’55.288, 1.994 / 0.457
17, 50, Jason DUPASQUIER, 218.2, 1’55.810, 2.516 / 0.522
18, 28, Izan GUEVARA, 219.6, 1’55.946, 2.652 / 0.136
19, 82, Stefano NEPA, 218.6, 1’56.017, 2.723 / 0.071
20, 7, Dennis FOGGIA, 218.2, 1’56.040, 2.746 / 0.023
21, 71, Ayumu SASAKI, 217.2, 1’56.054, 2.760 / 0.014
22, 73, Maximilian KOFLER, 216.3, 1’56.138, 2.844 / 0.084
23, 99, Carlos TATAY, 213.9, 1’56.256, 2.962 / 0.118
24, 27, Kaito TOBA, 216.3, 1’56.263, 2.969 / 0.007
25, 20, Lorenzo FELLON, 216.7, 1’56.334, 3.040 / 0.071
26, 6, Ryusei YAMANAKA, 217.2, 1’56.342, 3.048 / 0.008
27, 53, Deniz ÖNCÜ, 220.1, 1’57.086, 3.792 / 0.744
28, 32, Takuma MATSUYAMA, 211.7, 1’58.547, 5.253 / 1.461
– , 52, Jeremy ALCOBA, 212.1, 2’01.427, 8.133 / 2.880
MotoGP FP1
Most of the drivers are on the wet track when it is not raining at the moment, but as announced in advance, conditions are not the same for Fabio Quartararo. Johann Zarco, on the other hand, is on P2 after the first quarter of an hour behind Miller. Twenty minutes before the end, Miguel Oliveira is ahead of Marc Marquez, for whom these conditions should, as expected, be very welcome. A little later, Zarco leads in front of Joan Mir, Marc Marquez, Oliveira, Vinales and Rins. Shortly afterwards Miller stepped up and took over with 1’41.392, but was immediately undercut by the local hero by almost six tenths. The first to try slicks 9 minutes before the end of the first free practice session is Jack Miller. But it doesn’t look like he can crack Zarco’s best time at the moment, but just barely misses it.
Crashes in the last Minutes
In turn three, Alex Marquez crashes into turn 3 6 minutes before the time is up and Miller now manages a time of over 2 seconds below that of Zarco with 1’38.007. But now light rain sets in again and the Australian has probably caught the golden moment. Vinales also fell immediately after leaving the pits, a very strange fall for the Catalan. The time of FP1 is up and Marc Marquez manages the fifth-best time to date behind Miller, Zarco, Mir and Pol Espargaró, who pushed past his teammate shortly afterwards. Valentino Rossi was pushed out of the top ten shortly before the end and Quartararo is, as expected, far behind with P16. The following is the complete ranking from the first free practice, the riders in italics would not be right in Q2.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 43, Jack MILLER, 308.7, 1’38.007,
2, 5, Johann ZARCO, 308.7, 1’39.488, 1.481 / 1.481
3, 36, Joan MIR, 297.6, 1’40.069, 2.062 / 0.581
4, 44, Pol ESPARGARO, 305.8, 1’40.115, 2.108 / 0.046
5, 93, Marc MARQUEZ, 305.8, 1’40.121, 2.114 / 0.006
6, 32, Lorenzo SAVADORI, 291.5, 1’40.244, 2.237 / 0.123
7, 63, Francesco BAGNAIA, 307.7, 1’40.256, 2.249 / 0.012
8, 88, Miguel OLIVEIRA, 301.2, 1’40.582, 2.575 / 0.326
9, 42, Alex RINS, 308.7, 1’40.679, 2.672 / 0.097
10, 41, Aleix ESPARGARO, 299.4, 1’41.029, 3.022 / 0.350
11, 73, Alex MARQUEZ, 305.8, 1’41.258, 3.251 / 0.229
12, 12, Maverick VIÑALES, 300.3, 1’41.299, 3.292 / 0.041
13, 21, Franco MORBIDELLI, 295.0, 1’41.423, 3.416 / 0.124
14, 46, Valentino ROSSI, 296.7, 1’41.524, 3.517 / 0.101
15, 30, Takaaki NAKAGAMI, 304.0, 1’41.576, 3.569 / 0.052
16, 20, Fabio QUARTARARO, 299.4, 1’41.641, 3.634 / 0.065
17, 27, Iker LECUONA, 297.6, 1’42.500, 4.493 / 0.859
18, 33, Brad BINDER, 298.5, 1’42.899, 4.892 / 0.399
19, 9, Danilo PETRUCCI, 294.1, 1’43.045, 5.038 / 0.146
20, 10, Luca MARINI, 285.7, 1’43.262, 5.255 / 0.217
21, 53, Tito RABAT, 296.7, 1’43.469, 5.462 / 0.207
22, 23, Enea BASTIANINI, 289.8, 1’43.644, 5.637 / 0.175
FP1 of Moto2 – The Finnish GP was canceled
It has just been announced that the Finnish GP has also been canceled this season due to the pandemic. The question is whether this will also serve as a signal for other races in Europe. On July 11th this would have been the 10th round of MotoGP and no replacement has been named yet. Perhaps a wake-up call for those who thought that idiotic announcements of the alleged end of the pandemic was about to come true. When there is still half an hour left in Moto2 in FP2, Sam Lowes is leading in front of Stefano Manzi, Simone Corsi, Somkiat Chantra and Lorenzo Baldassari. Shortly after the last 20 minutes began, Aron Canet replaces Englishman Lowes at the top of the provisional ranking, behind which Bezzecchi is in third place, ahead of A. Fernandez, Syahrin, Lüthi, Manzi and Roberts.
The last quarter of an hour
With a crash by Marco Bezzechi in Turn 9, the final in FP1 of Moto2 begins spectacularly. Lowes is leading the fallen Italian at this point and Cameron Beaubier fought his way up to P6. Shortly before the end of the second free practice session, Yari Montella fell and in the end Aron Canet is the leader ahead of Stefano Manzi and Sam Lowes. In the end, Tom Lüthi was still far out of the top ten and only finished seventeenth, while Schrötter made it safely with P8 behind Dixon and ahead of World Championship leaders Gardner and Syahrin. Below is the ranking of FP1, the riders in italic are currently not directly in Q2.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 44, Aron CANET, 264.5, 1’37.535,
2, 62, Stefano MANZI, 264.5, 1’37.643, 0.108 / 0.108
3, 22, Sam LOWES, 263.1, 1’37.678, 0.143 / 0.035
4, 21, Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO, 263.1, 1’37.812, 0.277 / 0.134
5, 37, Augusto FERNANDEZ, 263.8, 1’37.915, 0.380 / 0.103
6, 97, Xavi VIERGE, 263.1, 1’38.230, 0.695 / 0.315
7, 96, Jake DIXON, 259.0, 1’38.302, 0.767 / 0.072
8, 23, Marcel SCHROTTER, 262.4, 1’38.343, 0.808 / 0.041
9, 87, Remy GARDNER, 263.1, 1’38.381, 0.846 / 0.038
10, 55, Hafizh SYAHRIN, 263.1, 1’38.503, 0.968 / 0.122
11, 40, Hector GARZO, 261.7, 1’38.507, 0.972 / 0.004
12, 5, Yari MONTELLA, 263.8, 1’38.532, 0.997 / 0.025
13, 9, Jorge NAVARRO, 263.8, 1’38.542, 1.007 / 0.010
14, 7, Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, 258.3, 1’38.595, 1.060 / 0.053
15, 24, Simone CORSI, 261.7, 1’38.628, 1.093 / 0.033
16, 42, Marcos RAMIREZ, 265.2, 1’38.699, 1.164 / 0.071
17, 12, Thomas LUTHI, 264.5, 1’38.724, 1.189 / 0.025
18, 35, Somkiat CHANTRA, 263.1, 1’38.757, 1.222 / 0.033
19, 25, Raul FERNANDEZ, 265.2, 1’38.779, 1.244 / 0.022
20, 11, Nicolò BULEGA, 262.4, 1’38.787, 1.252 / 0.008
21, 64, Bo BENDSNEYDER, 262.4, 1’38.801, 1.266 / 0.014
22, 72, Marco BEZZECCHI, 267.3, 1’38.812, 1.277 / 0.011
23, 6, Cameron BEAUBIER, 265.9, 1’38.884, 1.349 / 0.072
24, 79, Ai OGURA, 263.1, 1’39.000, 1.465 / 0.116
25, 70, Barry BALTUS, 259.6, 1’39.139, 1.604 / 0.139
26, 75, Albert ARENAS, 262.4, 1’39.234, 1.699 / 0.095
27, 14, Tony ARBOLINO, 263.8, 1’39.666, 2.131 / 0.432
28, 19, Lorenzo DALLA PORTA, 265.2, 1’39.679, 2.144 / 0.013
29, 16, Joe ROBERTS, 261.0, 1’39.767, 2.232 / 0.088
30, 13, Celestino VIETTI, 261.0, 1’40.574, 3.039 / 0.807
31, 10, Tommaso MARCON, 254.3, 1’41.307, 3.772 / 0.73
FP2 of Moto3
The riders are on the almost absolutely dry track, and it doesn’t look like rain. Cloudy, but with a translucent blue sky. Max Kofler drove next to the track after slow braking from Turn 9, but did not fall. The Austrian then tries to return to the pits via the service road. A little later, Migno crashes in turn 13, but can then get on and also pits. The next one with a crash is Andy Izdihar in Turn 7, who initially remained lying down and was removed with a stretcher. Seventeen minutes before the end of FP2, Jason Dupasquier on P15 would not be directly in Q2, but a major attack on the best times can still be expected, especially in the last few minutes.
The last quarter of an hour
Rodrigo, Masia, Migno, Antonelli, Fenati and now Dupasquier on P6 are in the first 6 places. McPhee and Binder are currently in P8 and 9, but they cannot be sure that this placement will end up being enough for Q2. With three minutes to go, Deniz Öncü is fastest and McPhee and Binder are outside the top 14. The time is up and in the end Rodrigo is leading after the FP2 ahead of Binder, Masia, Antonelli and Öncü. While Binder easily made it into the top 14, World Cup leader Acosta can only be found on P19. The following is the ranking list after the second free practice session with the drivers in italics who are currently not directly qualified for Q2.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 2, Gabriel RODRIGO, 222.0, 1’42.150,
2, 40, Darryn BINDER, 221.6, 1’42.276, 0.126 / 0.126
3, 5, Jaume MASIA, 222.5, 1’42.331, 0.181 / 0.055
4, 23, Niccolò ANTONELLI, 224.0, 1’42.487, 0.337 / 0.156
5, 53, Deniz ÖNCÜ, 220.6, 1’42.510, 0.360 / 0.023
6, 16, Andrea MIGNO, 222.5, 1’42.538, 0.388 / 0.028
7, 55, Romano FENATI, 218.2, 1’42.553, 0.403 / 0.015
8, 6, Ryusei YAMANAKA, 219.6, 1’42.606, 0.456 / 0.053
9, 82, Stefano NEPA, 225.6, 1’42.650, 0.500 / 0.044
10, 71, Ayumu SASAKI, 225.6, 1’42.755, 0.605 / 0.105
11, 50, Jason DUPASQUIER, 222.5, 1’42.773, 0.623 / 0.018
12, 17, John MCPHEE, 219.6, 1’42.890, 0.740 / 0.117
13, 54, Riccardo ROSSI, 220.6, 1’42.892, 0.742 / 0.002
14, 11, Sergio GARCIA, 223.0, 1’42.915, 0.765 / 0.023
15, 99, Carlos TATAY, 220.1, 1’43.036, 0.886 / 0.121
16, 12, Filip SALAC, 219.6, 1’43.136, 0.986 / 0.100
17, 73, Maximilian KOFLER, 220.1, 1’43.181, 1.031 / 0.045
18, 37, Pedro ACOSTA, 221.6, 1’43.229, 1.079 / 0.048
19, 52, Jeremy ALCOBA, 218.2, 1’43.233, 1.083 / 0.004
20, 28, Izan GUEVARA, 223.5, 1’43.247, 1.097 / 0.014
21, 7, Dennis FOGGIA, 223.5, 1’43.249, 1.099 / 0.002
22, 27, Kaito TOBA, 222.0, 1’43.280, 1.130 / 0.031
23, 92, Yuki KUNII, 222.0, 1’43.321, 1.171 / 0.041
24, 24, Tatsuki SUZUKI, 219.1, 1’43.490, 1.340 / 0.169
25, 43, Xavier ARTIGAS, 222.0, 1’43.613, 1.463 / 0.123
26, 32, Takuma MATSUYAMA, 221.1, 1’44.032, 1.882 / 0.419
27, 31, Adrian FERNANDEZ, 220.6, 1’44.079, 1.929 / 0.047
28, 19, Andi Farid IZDIHAR, 219.6, 1’44.234, 2.084 / 0.155
29, 20, Lorenzo FELLON, 221.1, 1’44.758, 2.608 / 0.524
FP2 of MotoGP – Zarco on provisional pole ahead of Quartararo
The riders are on the track, and it got darker in the sky, but it’s still not raining at the moment. After almost 5 minutes, Marquez goes far in a right turn, but Marc does not fall. Thirty-nine minutes before the end, Quartararo set a provisional best time of 1’33.025. Aleix Espargaró is the first to have a crash, the Spaniard caught it at Turn 3. Many drivers have not yet made a time attack, including Johann Zarco. After almost a quarter of an hour of FP2, Pecco Bagnaia fell also in curve 3, but, like before Aleix, seems to have been unharmed. Aleix has just crashed for the second time, but can then return to the box with his Aprilia in Service Road, where he is pushed by a scooter driver. Marc Marquez also drives off the track at Garage vert a little later, but did not fall and can continue. Fabio Quartararo also slips in the first chicane, but can then continue, but stops and pits back as a scooter pillion.
Who will make it into the top ten in the last 20 minutes?
According to the weather forecast, this is almost the same as moving directly into Q2, which means that we can expect some hot scenes shortly before the end of FP2. Now Miller fell, the Australian caught it in turn 7, which of course means that time is running out for him to hunt for a fast lap in time. The last 10 minutes have begun and so the showdown takes place on the still dry asphalt, but it is already quite dark in the sky. Miller is only in P15 and when attempting a fast lap he makes a mistake. Alex Rins fell 5 minutes before the end, also in Turn 3, but is currently still on P6. Marc Marquez made it to position 6 when the clock was just over 2 minutes and I fell shortly afterwards. Zarco redeemed his compatriots with provisionally second-best time behind Quartararo and both are again on course after an even better lap. In the end, Zarco manages the best lap ahead of Quartararo and Rossi is also in the top ten with P9, ahead of Nakagami. Below is the result with the drivers in italics who are currently not directly qualified for Q2.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 5, Johann ZARCO, 320.6, 1’31.747,
2, 20, Fabio QUARTARARO, 315.5, 1’31.842, 0.095 / 0.095
3, 12, Maverick VIÑALES, 313.5, 1’32.136, 0.389 / 0.294
4, 44, Pol ESPARGARO, 320.6, 1’32.137, 0.390 / 0.001
5, 21, Franco MORBIDELLI, 310.6, 1’32.279, 0.532 / 0.142
6, 88, Miguel OLIVEIRA, 314.5, 1’32.296, 0.549 / 0.017
7, 43, Jack MILLER, 319.6, 1’32.361, 0.614 / 0.065
8, 93, Marc MARQUEZ, 316.5, 1’32.632, 0.885 / 0.271
9, 46, Valentino ROSSI, 312.6, 1’32.669, 0.922 / 0.037
10, 30, Takaaki NAKAGAMI, 314.5, 1’32.711, 0.964 / 0.042
11, 42, Alex RINS, 314.5, 1’32.762, 1.015 / 0.051
12, 63, Francesco BAGNAIA, 320.6, 1’32.800, 1.053 / 0.038
13, 36, Joan MIR, 314.5, 1’32.908, 1.161 / 0.108
14, 41, Aleix ESPARGARO, 315.5, 1’32.946, 1.199 / 0.038
15, 27, Iker LECUONA, 312.6, 1’33.040, 1.293 / 0.094
16, 33, Brad BINDER, 313.5, 1’33.117, 1.370 / 0.077
17, 73, Alex MARQUEZ, 322.7, 1’33.204, 1.457 / 0.087
18, 53, Tito RABAT, 312.6, 1’33.361, 1.614 / 0.157
19, 23, Enea BASTIANINI, 316.5, 1’33.536, 1.789 / 0.175
20, 32, Lorenzo SAVADORI, 308.7, 1’33.985, 2.238 / 0.449
21, 10, Luca MARINI, 313.5, 1’34.147, 2.400 / 0.162
22, 9, Danilo PETRUCCI, 310.6, 1’34.520, 2.773 / 0.373
FP2 of Moto2
The drivers still have 20 minutes to go, and the track is still dry. Baldassari just fell in turn 7, rolled over several times in the gravel, but apparently remained uninjured. The last 5 minutes have started, and Sam Lowes is at the top. Shortly after the Italian Marcon, Syahrin, Dixon and Chantra also fall. A little later, Joe Roberts also lays down in the gravel trap at Turn 8. When time ran out, Lowes is still on top ahead of Raul Fernandez, Bezzecchi, Augusto Fernandez and Remy Gardner. Jake Dixon clearly missed the first 14 and has to hope for dry weather on Saturday morning to make it straight into Q2. Below is the ranking from FP2 with the drivers in italics who are currently not directly qualified for Q2.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time/Gap
1, 22, Sam LOWES, 265.9, 1’36.307,
2, 25, Raul FERNANDEZ, 268.7, 1’36.382, 0.075 / 0.075
3, 37, Augusto FERNANDEZ, 265.9, 1’36.605, 0.298 / 0.223
4, 87, Remy GARDNER, 265.9, 1’36.640, 0.333 / 0.035
5, 11, Nicolò BULEGA, 266.6, 1’36.748, 0.441 / 0.108
6, 97, Xavi VIERGE, 266.6, 1’36.813, 0.506 / 0.065
7, 44, Aron CANET, 266.6, 1’36.864, 0.557 / 0.051
8, 21, Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO, 263.8, 1’36.959, 0.652 / 0.095
9, 72, Marco BEZZECCHI, 269.5, 1’37.062, 0.755 / 0.103
10, 64, Bo BENDSNEYDER, 266.6, 1’37.083, 0.776 / 0.021
11, 23, Marcel SCHROTTER, 263.8, 1’37.165, 0.858 / 0.082
12, 62, Stefano MANZI, 266.6, 1’37.215, 0.908 / 0.050
13, 9, Jorge NAVARRO, 268.7, 1’37.316, 1.009 / 0.101
14, 40, Hector GARZO, 267.3, 1’37.327, 1.020 / 0.011
15, 24, Simone CORSI, 263.1, 1’37.423, 1.116 / 0.096
16, 35, Somkiat CHANTRA, 267.3, 1’37.473, 1.166 / 0.050
17, 7, Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, 259.6, 1’37.497, 1.190 / 0.024
18, 79, Ai OGURA, 268.0, 1’37.499, 1.192 / 0.002
19, 12, Thomas LUTHI, 263.8, 1’37.606, 1.299 / 0.107
20, 42, Marcos RAMIREZ, 267.3, 1’37.640, 1.333 / 0.034
21, 55, Hafizh SYAHRIN, 266.6, 1’37.815, 1.508 / 0.175
22, 14, Tony ARBOLINO, 266.6, 1’37.844, 1.537 / 0.029
23, 6, Cameron BEAUBIER, 269.5, 1’38.055, 1.748 / 0.211
24, 75, Albert ARENAS, 268.0, 1’38.072, 1.765 / 0.017
25, 96, Jake DIXON, 263.1, 1’38.081, 1.774 / 0.009
26, 13, Celestino VIETTI, 263.8, 1’38.326, 2.019 / 0.245
27, 19, Lorenzo DALLA PORTA, 268.0, 1’38.335, 2.028 / 0.009
28, 16, Joe ROBERTS, 262.4, 1’38.458, 2.151 / 0.123
29, 70, Barry BALTUS, 261.0, 1’38.561, 2.254 / 0.103
30, 10, Tommaso MARCON, 261.0, 1’39.645, 3.338 / 1.084
This live blog is closed now, and we will continue with a new one tomorrow..
The Le Mans weekend is already eagerly awaited
With only 5 left turns and 9 right turns, the Bugatti circuit, like most of the circuits, is clockwise. For the opponents of Ducati it is reassuring that there is no long straight here either. The maximum is 647 m, with which the lightning-fast reds have to wait until Mugello in order to enjoy their strongest triumph. La Chapelle and Garage Vert are somewhat reminiscent of the almost 180 degree curves 6 and 13 of Jerez, but otherwise the characteristics of the Circuit Bugatti are completely different.
The world championship stand in all classes before the 5th round at Le Mans
Le Mans Grand Prix schedule
Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© MotoGP).
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