Friday’s Timed Practice session in Le Mans certainly had a few surprises and makes a highly anticipated race even less predicatable than first thought.
Home hero Johann Zarco, who pulled off a stunning victory last year to become the first French rider in 71 years to win his home Grand Prix, was top of the timing sheets – much to the delight of the crowd.
Francesco Bagnaia was one of the big surprises too, the Ducati man seemingly recovering some form with a solid top 3 finish, though he did crash late in the session which meant that teammate Marc Marquez’s lap was cancelled – and subsequently the reigning world champion will have to compete in Q1 tomorrow.
Aprilia looked the most vulnerable they have been so far this season, with Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi finishing the session in P6 and P7 respectively. Meanwhile at satellite team Trackhouse Racing, Ai Ogura managed a decent P9 while Raul Fernandez finished in P14 after his bike caught fire mid-session.
Honda look like the Le Mans circuit could be suited to them and Yamaha have also seemingly made improvements. Alex Rins finished the session as the top Yamaha, he will go straight to Q2 after a P8 finish.
| Position | Rider (Team) | Time |
| 1. | Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda) | 1:29.907 |
| 2. | Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46) | +0.010 |
| 3. | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) | +0.138 |
| 4. | Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing) | +0.138 |
| 5. | Joan Mir (Honda HRC) | +0.185 |
| 6. | Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) | +0.221 |
| 7. | Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) | +0.270 |
| 8. | Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha) | +0.288 |
| 9. | Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Racing) | +0.289 |
| 10. | Pedro Acosta (KTM Factory Racing) | +0.289 |
| 11. | Enea Bastianini (KTM Tech3) | +0.367 |
| 12. | Brad Binder (KTM Factory Racing) | +0.381 |
| 13. | Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) | +0.464 |
| 14. | Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) | +0.510 |
| 15. | Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) | +0.521 |
| 16. | Luca Marini (Honda HRC) | +0.556 |
| 17. | Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) | +0.562 |
| 18. | Franco Morbidelli (VR46) | +0.763 |
| 19. | Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) | +0.816 |
| 20. | Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) | +1.421 |
| 21. | Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing) | +1.527 |
| 22. | Jones Folger (KTM Tech3) | +2.543 |