From 2020 to 2023, whether it was wet or dry, it was always a Ducati that prevailed at Le Mans. A trend that the Borgo Panigale manufacturer seems intent on continuing in 2024, given that it placed four Desmosedici GPs in the top six positions in the inaugural free practice session of the French Grand Prix.
In the end it was world leader Jorge Martin who stood out, but he was also one of the riders who decided to fit a new soft tire on the rear in the final minutes. However, the Prima Pramac Racing rider from Madrid remained about a second away from the Bugatti Circuit record with his 1’31″421.
Behind him, rookie Pedro Acosta demonstrated once again that he can already be considered in all respects one of the big names in this MotoGP. The GasGas Tech3 rider also mounted a new tire at the end, in his case a medium one, stopping at 237 from the tread. He then made a wonderful save at turn 6, managing to remain standing after losing the front of his RC16.
Maverick Vinales completes a top 3 that sees all three European brands represented with his Aprilia. New medium tire also for the rider from Roses, who was just 20 thousandths slower than Acosta, confirming his feelings according to which the RS-GP would have been quite competitive on the French track.
Even if they are only in fourth and fifth position, what is probably frightening are the performances of the two Ducatis of the factory team, because Enea Bastianini and Pecco Bagnaia continued until the end with the same medium tire on the rear and, despite this, they reduced just four tenths the gap to Martin, demonstrating that he can lap with great consistency between the high 1’31” and the low 1’32”. A statement that also applies to Marc Marquez, ninth with the Gresini Racing GP23, but just over a tenth slower.
His brother Alex also squeezed in between the reigning world champion and the #93, sixth with the twin GP23 but with a time achieved with the new tyre, as well as the other Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro and the KTM of Brad Binder, with the South African who was the only one to end up with wheels in the air on the last lap while he was tackling turn 11.
Marco Bezzecchi then goes on to complete a top 10 which therefore brings the Ducati count to six and his performance confirms how small the gaps are on the transalpine track, given that he is only 559 thousandths of a second away. Following are the KTM of Jack Miller and the other Ducati of Franco Morbidelli, who precede Alex Rins who was the best among the riders astride the Japanese bikes: to obtain the 13th time, however, the Spaniard mounted a new soft tire on his Yamaha.
However, you have to go down to 16th position to find the best of the Hondas, which once again is that of the host Johann Zarco, who also finished behind the two Trackhouse Racing Aprilias entrusted to Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira. It wasn’t a great start for Fabio Di Giannantonio, only 18th on the second Pertamina Enduro VR46 Ducati. But the same can also be said for Fabio Quartararo, 20th with Yamaha, and Luca Marini, who closes the group behind his teammate Joan Mir, with a delay of almost two seconds.
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