Zarco Fastest In French MotoGP FP

Johann Zarco via Instagram motogp

JAKARTA - Host rider Johann Zarco confirmed Ducati's speed at Le Mans' Bugatti Circuit when it topped the time record of the second free practice session of the French Grand Prix on Friday.

After part of the track was still wet in the morning session, FP2 took place on a completely dry track.

Zarco clocked a best time of 1:31.747 in the final minutes to surpass his compatriot Fabio Quartararo, who raced for the first time after undergoing arm pump surgery on May 4, by a very slim margin of 0.095 seconds, the official MotoGP website was quoted as saying from Antara, Friday, May 14.

Maverick Vinales overshadowed his team-mate in third place, 0.398 seconds adrift of the session leader.

Performing pressing in low temperatures, a number of riders instead crashed on the track such as Aleix Espargaro from Aprilia team and the top of the standings while Francesco Bagnaia from ducati team who slipped in the chicane Turn 3.

Espargaro even fell twice at the same location. Turn 3 also proved difficult to tame when Quartararo crashed midway through the session and Alex Rins who was also a victim towards the end of the session.

Morning practice session leader Jack Miller slipped from his Ducati bike at Turn 7, while defending world champion Joan Mir crashed at Turn 8.

Marc Marquez continues his performance after a nine-month absence from MotoGP. The Repsol Honda team rider widened at Turn 8 but was able to avoid falling.

Pramac Racing rookie Jorge Martin is still not fit after the accident at Portimao and was replaced by Tito Rabat.

The weather is predicted to rain throughout the weekend at Le Mans, a challenge for riders looking to claim top ten spots in all three practice sessions this weekend.

However, all riders are able to be faster than their time record in FP1.

Repsol Honda team rider Pol Espargaro stayed in the P4 while Franco Morbidelli poked into the P5 for the Petronas Yamaha SRT team.

Miller slumped to P7, one position above Marquez for a while safe in P8. Valentino Rossi also temporarily held the Q2 ticket after finishing P9 ahead of Takaaki Nakagami of lcr Honda team.

Suzuki's team duo, Alex Rins and Joan Mir, and Bagnaia had to fight their way into the top ten in FP3 if they wanted to qualify directly for Q2.

Top ten record combinations after FP2

1 J. ZARCO 1:31,747

2 F. QUARTARARO +0.095

3 M. VIÑALES +0.389

4 P. ESPARGARO +0.390

5 F. MORBIDELLI +0.532

6 M. OLIVEIRA +0.549

7 J. MILLER +0.614

8 M. MARQUEZ +0.885

9 V. ROSSI +0.922

10 T. NAKAGAMI +0.964