France – EL1: Marc Marquez crushes the competition, the French in the top 10

• As the clouds give way to sunshine on the Bugatti circuit, the drivers of MotoGP take to the track for Free Practice 1, the first session of the weekend at Le Mans. From the very first laps, the uncompromising Marquez brothers take the lead. Closely followed by his younger brother, Alex, Marc Marquez takes the lead with a time of 1:31.263.
• In the early stages of the session, Raul Fernandez crashed between sectors 3 and 4. His machine suffered significant damage and smoke began to come out when he righted it with the help of the track marshals.
• Things are changing very little at the front. About twenty minutes after setting his first benchmark, Marc Marquez asserts himself at the top of the standings with a time of 1:31.099, 150 faster than the previous time. At that point, Pecco Bagnaia claims second place on the scoreboard, with a time of 1:31.397, while Alex Marquez completes the top three.
• Six tenths of a second behind the leader, the first non-Ducati machine in the standings is none other than Johann Zarco, in fourth place with a time of 1:31.617. With twelve minutes remaining on the clock, he is relegated to fifth place by his compatriot, fabio quartararoThe two Frenchmen therefore complete the top 5 just before each of their last rapid attempts.
• At the very end of the session, Ai Ogura caused a surprise by moving from 16th to third place, recording a time slightly faster than Alex Marquez. He wasn't alone, as before the checkered flag, it was Brad Binder who moved into the lead by setting the second fastest time.
• The final standings saw Marc Marquez take a six-tenths lead over the competition, while Brad Binder and Alex Marquez completed the final top three.
• Behind them, Pecco Bagnaia and Ai Ogura complete the top five. Without Marc Marquez, the four drivers from second to fifth place, from three different brands, are within a tenth of each other, promising a competitive weekend at Le Mans.
• Fabio Quartararo finally finished sixth in FP1, Johann Zarco set the eighth final time, behind Fabio Di Giannantonio.
• As a reminder, in addition to Jorge Martin's withdrawal, Somkiat Chantra is also absent from France due to injury. Takaaki Nakagami, however, is strengthening Honda's ranks under the HRC banner as a wildcard.
• MotoGP will return to the track at around 15:00 PM for practice for the French Grand Prix. This session will propel the top ten in the final standings into Q2.

MotoGP France – EL1 standings:

Ranking : MotoTiming