THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Miller takes the reins on a tricky Day 1 at Le Mans

Miller takes the reins on a tricky Day 1 at Le Mans

The Australian tops Friday in France by a tenth and a half ahead of Viñales, with Quartararo, Dovizioso and Rossi outside the top ten on Day 1

It was a mixed bag greeting the grid on Day 1 at the Shark Helmets Grand Prix de France, with a wet FP1 giving way to a dry-ish FP2 and that presenting an interesting set of challenges for the grid. The man on top by the end of play was Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), with the Australian demonstrating his by-now characteristic mastery of tricky conditions to grapple to the top of FP2. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) wasn't far off in second, a tenth and a half down, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) completing the top three but a good three tenths off the top.

FP1
In contrast to the intermediate and lightweight class sessions, MotoGP™ FP1 actually went pretty smoothly without incident. In the wet, cold morning conditions it was Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who struck late to take to the top, the Brit a tenth and a half clear. Overnight rain and a continued light mist of dampness and rain kept it wet, but by the end the laptimes were coming down.

Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was quickest in the early stages before Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) took over at the summit, with Jack Miller then taking P1 with just under 25 minutes to go despite a small scare when entering pitlane. Teammate Francesco Bagnaia next made it a Desmosedici 1-2-3, before Maverick Viñales went fastest. Wet weather specialist Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) was next up as he took over by nearly two tenths, before compatriot Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) hit back with around 15 minutes to go.

With eight minutes left, Miller and Petrucci exchanged fastest laps before Viñales ruined the Borgo Panigale party, but ultimately, it would be Smith who rose to the fore to claim a memorable P1. Home hero Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) then impressed to take second on his last flying lap.

Zarco became the first of a Ducati armada completing the top five, with Petrucci, Miller and Dovizioso making it four out of five for the Bologna bullets near the top. Viñales was sixth ahead of Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) pipped Pol Espargaro to P9.

So where are the top two in the Championship? Leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was down in P18, and closest challenger Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in P13. Mir, however, was just behind teammate Alex Rins as both Suzukis put in high 1:44s.

FP2
As the riders emerged for FP2, track conditions were still very tricky but most definitely improving. Valentino Rossi was first out on slick tyres but nearly four seconds slower than early pacesetter Mir, the Spaniard completing two flying laps on wets tyres to set a 1:43.515. Miller and Quartararo were two of a few riders who went out on slick tyres early on too, but they immediately came back into pitlane; risks seemingly outweighing rewards at that stage.

Zarco was then lapping on wets over five seconds quicker than Rossi, confirming that track conditions weren’t good enough for slicks just yet. Zarco had got his time down to a 1:40.943  though, nearly three seconds quicker than Bradley Smith’s FP1 pace, but a brave Australian was about to move the goalposts. In a classic Miller move, the Pramac rider headed out on slicks again in iffy conditions... and started setting red sector times. The Aussie slammed in a 1:39 and then got down to a 1:37.738 to go two seconds quicker than Zarco, proving it could well be slick tyre territory with half an hour of Friday action to go.

Miller was soon well into the 1:36s and lapping over three seconds quicker than anyone else. This, of course, convinced many to try the same. Mir slotted into second, but 3.2 seconds adrift of the Ducati man, although by 20 minutes to go the Suzuki rider had chopped Miller’s advantage down to under two seconds. Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech3) then shot up to P2 with an impressive 1:36.967, just half a second off Miller.

All the riders were then out on circuit and the times just kept tumbling. Nakagami demoted Miller to P2 before Alex Rins took over at the top, but the Japanese rider then became the first rider to dip into the 1:35s and hit back. With around 10 minutes left, the riders were starting to push. Some, too much. Aprilia duo Smith and Aleix Espargaro were down at Turn 12 and Turn 3 respectively, Smith suffering a nasty-looking highside but rider ok, and then Dovizioso crashed. We don’t say that too often, but the Italian slid into the gravel at Turn 3, rider ok.

In the meantime, Rossi had slotted himself into P4 behind Nakagami, Rins and Lecuona,  with early hero Miller shuffled down to P5. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) then found himself at the summit, but it wasn’t for long for the Brit. First Morbidelli and then Miller again beat the British rider’s time, the Australian 0.8s clear at the top to move the goalposts again.

Viñales then cut the gap to half a second despite running off and into the gravel a lap earlier at Turn 8, before Petrucci and then Nakagami pipped the number 12. The conveyor belt of faster laps looked like it would continue too as with a minute to go, Nakagami set three red sectors. Alas, the Japanese rider then suffered a small tip-off at Turn 11 – rider ok but out of the battle for the top on Day 1, also bringing out the Yellow Flags and that causing a couple of late cancellations for those behind him...

That included Miller as an even quicker lap from the number 43 got cancelled, but the Aussie retained his place at the top. That coupled with a P4 in FP1 sees Miller on form in France; a venue where Ducati have never won. Viñales, who has won at Le Mans, took second overall by a tenth and a half, moving up from P6 on Friday morning. Nakagami completed the top three despite the late incident.

Petrucci ended the day P4 to make it a good Friday for the Italian, he leads fifth place Crutchlow as the duo claim double top 10s in FP1 and FP2 to head into Saturday’s in good shape. Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) went well to claim P6 in FP2 and overall on Day 1.

Morbidelli and Pol Espargaro  finished P7 and P8 respectively, another two riders to be inside the leading 10 riders in both the wet and dry-ish conditions. Mir was ninth on the opening day to finish just over a second off Miller's time, ahead of Zarco in P10. The Frenchman lost a lap in the aftermath of Nakagami's crash, but he edges out Championship leader and compatriot Fabio Quartararo as 'El Diablo' ends Day 1 in P11.

The man in 12th suffered the same fate, Rossi losing his last lap, and Alex Rins was shuffled down to P14 overall. Dovizioso, after his crash, ends Friday in 19th and with an even bigger mountain to climb.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed in the latter stages at Turn 7 – rider ok.

How will FP3 change the game? The final session to decide the direct entrants to Q2 begins at 09:55 local time (GMT+2). Will it be dry? Can the field improve their times? Quartararo, Rossi, Rins and Dovizioso will all have their eyes on the sky on Saturday morning, before qualifying then starts at 14:10 and the grid for the Shark Helmets Grand Prix de France gets decided.

Click here for combined timesheets

MotoGP™: the five fastest on Friday

Jack Miller* Pramac Racing - Ducati Team - 1:34.356
Maverick Viñales Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP - Yamaha - +0.144
Takaaki Nakagami* LCR Honda Idemitsu - Honda - +0.501
Danilo Petrucci Ducati Team - Ducati - +0.698
Cal Crutchlow* LCR Honda Castrol - Honda - +0.795

*Independent Team rider

 
Dixon tops Day 1, Marini suffers monster highside
The Brit pips Jorge Martin by just 0.049 in mixed conditions as Championship leader Luca Marini suffers a huge highside in France

Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) put in a superlative performance on Day 1 at the Shark Helmets Grand Prix de France to top the timesheets, pipping Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) to the honour as Yellow Flags caught the Spaniard out on a late charge. Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) completed the top three, although it was his teammate and Championship leader Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) who stole the headlines for different reasons. The number 10 suffered a huge highside early on in FP2, heding to hospital for a check up but ultimately declared fit.

FP1
Kasma Daniel (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) took to the top near the end of a crash fest Moto2™ FP1, the Malaysian impressing to take the reins ahead of Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP 40) and teammate Lorenzo Baldassarri, the latter only another 0.003 in arrears. 

Fourth went to American Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing), an oft-quick presence on the timesheets in the wet, with that also something to be said of the man just behind him: Jake Dixon, who ended the session 0.572 off the top. The Brit was leading until some late charges, getting shuffled down thereafter.

Jorge Martin was sixth in the morning ahead of Bezzecchi and Le Mans specialist Tom Lüthi (Liqui Moly Intact GP), with Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Hafizh Syahrin (Inde Aspar Team) completing the top ten, the latter the early leader in the session by some whopping margins before Bulega had hit back mid-way through.

Incident wise, the first to go down was Championship leader Marini as he exited pitlane and then promptly slid out at Turn 3 for his first crash of the day. Andi Izdihar (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) then went down at Turn 14, before the same happened to Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) as both highsided. Termozeta Speed Up's Jorge Navarro then came a cropper at Turn 9, before Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Italtrans Racing Team) at Turn 14 and Somkiat Chantra (Idemistu Honda Team Asia) at Turn 8 - the three incidents in the space of 40 seconds.

NTS RW Racing GP's replacement rider Piotr Biesiekirski crashed not long after at Turn 14, before early leader Syahrin hit the deck at Turn 3. Kasma Daniel then crashed at the same place five minutes later, although he'd go on the bounce back in some style. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Termozeta Speed Up) next went down at Turn 14, and Izdihar had a second crash there soon after. Finally, Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) crashed at Turn 9 and Joe Roberts at Turn 4.

Di Giannantonio and Biesiekirski will be assessed ahead of FP3 to see if they are able to take part in the rest of the Grand Prix.
 
FP2
The conditions were much improved by the time it came round to FP2, making the session timesheets effectively also the overall standings. The session still started with plenty of drama on a drying track, however, with FP1 pacesetter Kasma Daniel suffering a highside at Turn 11 before we then witnessed Marini’s huge crash coming over the brow of the hill at Turn 5. The Italian was absolutely launched off his bike and the machine then slid through the wet grass and back onto the circuit, bringing mud onto the racing line. That brought out the Red Flag as Marini limped away with the help from the marshals. The Italian was transported to the medical centre immediately thereafter, and then had a check up at hospital before being declared fit to continue.

Back on track after the Red Flag, Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) was top of the pile first off before Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) took over, with Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) then setting the fastest time of the day. The times were tumbling all the time though, and the ever-improving Dixon sat quickest late on. There he would stay, ultimately, as Martin was slamming in a serious laptimes - but it was deleted for Yellow Flags in one sector of his lap.

That leaves sophomore Dixon fastest in the intermediate class on Friday, and after finishing FP1 in P5. Martin takes second overall ahead of old Moto3™ foe Bezzecchi, who went from seventh in the wet to third overall. Lowes is once again up at the sharp end after Day 1 at Le Mans, up to P4 on the combined timesheets from his P19 finish in the tricky FP1 conditions.

Lowes' teammate Augusto Fernandez makes it two EG 0,0 Marc VDS machines in the top five as he too found the going a little less tough than FP1, with Termozeta Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro another rider who moved much higher up the timing screens in the dry, the Spaniard finishing FP2 and the day in P6.

Rookie Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) claims P7 on Day 1 at Le Mans, under two weeks from right arm pump surgery, after ending FP1 in P26. Lüthi managed to get the better of teammate Schrötter as the Liqui Moly Intact GP squad ended the day in P8 and P9, with Vierge rounding out the top ten.

Chantra, Roberts, Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) and second in the Championship Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) are the final four currently set to move through to Q2, but everything can still change in FP3...

See how that very FP3 shuffles the entrants to Q2 at 10:55 (GMT +2), before qualifying for Moto2™ begins at 15:10!

Click here for combined timesheets

Moto2™: the five fastest on Friday

1 Jake Dixon Petronas Sprinta Racing - Kalex - 1:37.713
Jorge Martin Red Bull KTM Ajo - Kalex - +0.049
Marco Bezzecchi Sky Racing Team VR46 - Kalex +0.304
4 Sam Lowes EG 0,0 Marc VDS - Kalex - +0.442
5 Augusto Fernandez EG 0,0 Marc VDS - Kalex - +0.472

 
Salač denies Fenati to top mixed Friday in France
The Czech rider strikes late to take over at the top by just 0.039 as a wet morning gives way to a dry and busy FP2

Filip Salač (Rivacold Snipers Team) got the best measure of the drying but still cool and difficult conditions in FP2 at the Shark Helmets Grand Prix de France, the Czech rider’s final lap in the afternoon proving enough to see him end the day on top and overhaul an ominous half-second gap previously enjoyed by Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team). The Italian was left 0.039 in arrears in FP2 and overall, with John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) completing the top three.

FP1
FP1 was characterised by one thing: crashes. By the end of the wet and chilly session there had been 17 incidents, and it was 2019 winner McPhee who emerged on top as he beat fellow veteran Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) to the honour by two tenths. Another experienced runner took third, with Championship challenger Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team) completing a top three split by four tenths.

The crashes – not crashers as some riders suffered more than one incident – were the biggest headline, however. The first to go down was, surprisingly, wet weather master Fenati when he crashed at Turn 4, before Jason Dupasquier (CarXpert PrüstelGP) went down at Turn 3 as he started his first flying lap. Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Öncü became the third rider to crash before five minutes had even been completed.

SIC58 Squadra Corse's Niccolo Antonelli also crashed at Turn 3, as did Khairul Idham Pawi (Petronas Sprinta Racing). Alonso Lopez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) suffered a nasty-looking crash at Turn 2, before both Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Carlos Tatay (Reale Avintia Moto3) then crashed at the by-now ominous Turn 3. Sky Racing Team VR46's Celestino Vietti had his first crash at Turn 4 not longer after, before World Championship leader Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) went down at the same place just over ten minutes later. Next up it was a second incident for Antonelli and a first for Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) as they hit the deck at Turn 14 a few minutes apart, before Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) ended up in the gravel trap at Turn 10.

In the closing stages, Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) was the final man to go down at Turn 3 before Stefano Nepa (Gaviota Aspar Team) highsided at Turn 2 and Dupasquier went down again at Turn 14.

After that shuffle, Salač kept it upright for fourth on the timesheets, half a second clear of Fernandez in fifth. Leopard Racing's Jaume Masia was 1.667 seconds adrift of Migno but up in sixth, with Garcia and Nepa seventh and eighth despite their crashes. Rounding out the top ten were impressive rookie Yuki Kunii (Honda Team Asia) and veteran compatriot Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

FP2
By the end of play, the quickest lap in the afternoon was 11 seconds quicker than McPhee’s morning masterpiece, making FP2 and the combined timesheets interchangeable. Salač vs Fenati was the duel at the top for much of the last half hour of the day, but the Czech rider’s 1:44.820 means he ultimately leads the provisional Q2 entrants. Fenati is forced to settle for second but had a good consistent run at or near the top, with McPhee retaining a place in the top three overall after backing up his FP1 pace with some serious speed in the afternoon too. The Scot also spent some time on track with teammate Khairul Idham Pawi as we saw some Petronas Sprinta Racing formation running in FP2.

Jaume Masia was on a charge late on, duelling McPhee at the top for a while before ending up P4 overall, with Migno completing the top five on Friday and proving another with consistent speed in both conditions. The number 16 was also the last man within a second of Salač’s timesheet-topping scorcher, if scorcher is the word for it at a very cool Le Mans.

Pawi slots into sixth overall as the Malaysian got back into the mix in the top ten after a tougher time of it of late, ahead of Championship leader Ai Ogura as the number 79 pipped Celestino Vietti by just 0.006. Niccolo Antonelli was only another few hundredths off in ninth, with rookie Yuki Kunii impressing once again as he completes the top ten overall following a P10 in FP1 to boot.

After 17 incidents in FP1 – and a few names crashing twice – the afternoon was comparatively docile, with no one taking a tumble at all and that, as well as the laptimes, testament to the improved conditions. Will they improve again for FP3 or are Friday’s fastest 14 heading through to Q2? If no one can go quicker on Saturday morning it’ll be Gabriel Rodrigo, Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Albert Arenas and Sergio Garcia joining the top ten in heading straight through – but anything can still very much change overnight…

Tune in for FP3 at 9:00 (GMT +2) to see if the pack shuffles, before qualifying begins from 12:35.

Click here for combined timesheets

Moto3™: the five fastest on Friday

Filip Salač Rivacold Snipers Team - Honda 1:44.820
Romano Fenati Sterilgarda Max Racing Team - Husqvarna +0.039
3 John McPhee Petronas Sprinta Racing - Honda +0.525
4 Jaume Masia Leopard Racing - Honda +0.616
Andrea Migno Sky Racing Team VR46 - KTM +0.991

 
Miller takes the reins on a tricky Day 1 at Le Mans
Viñales was second fastest and has already won in France...
Miller takes the reins on a tricky Day 1 at Le Mans

Nakagami impressed on Day 1 despite a small crash

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