Repsol Honda Team show fine form in France
Marc Marquez and teammate Jorge Lorenzo completed a positive opening day of practice in France, taking second and fourth respectively.
Building on the work done in Free Practice 1, Marc Marquez was immediately able to lap in the low 1’32s and quickly moved to top the time sheets during the second session. Although focusing on longer runs, Marquez remained quickest for much of the session and ended the day with a 1’31.618, the second fastest rider of the day.
A small fall at Turn 8 early in Free Practice 1 did little to upset Jorge Lorenzo’s Friday performance in France. A calm start to Free Practice 2 saw Lorenzo explode to the top of the time sheets in the closing minutes of the session. Ultimately setting a 1’31.716 to end the day in fourth overall.
Action resumes in France with Free Practice 3 at 09:55 local time on Saturday, May 18, and Q2 then starting at 14:35 local time. Mixed forecasts mean the Repsol Honda Team are ready for rain or shine tomorrow.
Marc Marquez
“The feeling is great today and I’m very happy because we were able to work in a good way, like always. The only change we made was a new tyre at the end of FP2 where normally we use the same tyres. With the weather looking unstable tomorrow it was best to do this. Also today I made a big save in FP1, it was my second run and I was able to save it but it took me by surprise a little bit because it’s so bumpy. Another nice video for the collection! There are many fast people and with the changing weather we will maintain our focus.”
Jorge Lorenzo
"Today didn’t start in the ideal way with the crash this morning. I was running with too much lean over the curbs and wasn’t able to save it. We came back stronger, in Free Practice 2 we made one change to the bike and I was able to feel much better on corner entry. It has helped a lot and we will keep trying different bits to become more and more confident. Conditions look like they could change tomorrow, but for today it was positive."
French Grand Prix Combined Free Practice Classification
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|
Location Information
Built in 1965 around the existing 24-Hour track, the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit lies 5km south of the city of Le Mans and 200km south-west of Paris. The venue has hosted Grand Prix since the late sixties but a serious accident to Spanish rider Alberto Puig in… read more.
| Length | 4.185 kilometres / 2.6 miles |
| Width | 13 metres |
| Left corners | 5 |
| Right corners | 9 |
| Longest straight | 0.674 kilometres / 0.419 miles |
| Constructed | 1966 |
| Modified | 2008 |
| Resurfacing | Resurfaced before 2017 round |
Automobile Club de l'Ouest, Le Mans, France - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m 29.919s (167.5km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducat,2024) |
| Race Lap | 1m 31.107s (165.3km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2024) |
| Race Time | 41m 23.709s (163.7 km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducat,2024) |
| 2024 Race Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducat) |
| 2024 Sprint Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducat) |
