John N
On Friday, Gresini Ducati rider Enea Bastianini headed practice times at MotoGP’s French Grand Prix, setting a new lap record at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit.
Italian rider Enea Bastianini lapped 0.202s faster than Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro in a soft rubber time attack late in the second free practice session. Bastianini had already seen a lap quicker than Espargaro’s benchmark scrubbed, setting the time under yellow flags caused by a crash for VR46 Ducati rider Luca Marini.
Before the soft tire runs, the winner of MotoGP’s previous round at Jerez, Francesco Bagnaia, had been quickest on the medium rubber. The 2021 series runner-up slipped to fifth at the end of the session behind fellow Ducati runner Johann Zarco (Pramac).
The top eight runners in FP2 concluded by reigning champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), Brad Binder (KTM), and Joan Mir (Suzuki), all dipped under FP1 pace-setter Pol Espargaro’s 1m31.771s effort.
Mir had been an early faller in FP2, the 2020 champion having to switch to a second bike after dropping his primary machine on the approach to Turn 7.
Espargaro ended FP2 in the 13th spot, failing to improve on the FP1 lap that had put the Honda rider on top of the times by 0.109s over Rins and Bagnaia.
As Zarco’s team-mate Jorge Martin completed the top 10 on combined times, the 2021 French GP winner Jack Miller was only 11th with the second factory Ducati.
The Australian improved fractionally on his FP1 time before shunting at Turn 11.
Diggia was definitely giggling in his helmet at that one 😅
@FabioDiggia49 🤜🤛 @marcmarquez93 #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/vECh1lpu5I— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2022
Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and now Johann Zarco! 🤠
The Le Mans Turn 1 motocross club just gained a member ✊#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/Ovt4PpmWz7
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2022
What a ride @mattiacasadei27 👏
Here is your pole man for Race 1 tomorrow 💪#MotoE | #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/maRurLTR48
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2022
2022 MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix: Friday practice results:
Free Practice 1
| Cla | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pol Espargaro |
 |
Honda | 1’31.771 | ||
| 2 | Alex Rins |
 |
Suzuki | 1’31.880 | 0.109 | 0.109 |
| 3 |  Francesco Bagnaia |
 |
Ducati | 1’31.893 | 0.122 | 0.013 |
| 4 |  Fabio Quartararo |
 |
Yamaha | 1’31.912 | 0.141 | 0.019 |
| 5 | Aleix Espargaro |
 |
Aprilia | 1’31.933 | 0.162 | 0.021 |
| 6 | Joan Mir |
 |
Suzuki | 1’31.942 | 0.171 | 0.009 |
| 7 |  Jack Miller |
 |
Ducati | 1’31.961 | 0.190 | 0.019 |
| 8 | Maverick Viñales |
 |
Aprilia | 1’32.078 | 0.307 | 0.117 |
| 9 | Johann Zarco |
 |
Ducati | 1’32.112 | 0.341 | 0.034 |
| 10 | Luca Marini |
 |
Ducati | 1’32.128 | 0.357 | 0.016 |
| 11 |  Takaaki Nakagami |
 |
Honda | 1’32.165 | 0.394 | 0.037 |
| 12 | Enea Bastianini |
 |
Ducati | 1’32.255 | 0.484 | 0.090 |
| 13 | Marc Marquez |
 |
Honda | 1’32.266 | 0.495 | 0.011 |
| 14 | Jorge Martin |
 |
Ducati | 1’32.491 | 0.720 | 0.225 |
| 15 | Marco Bezzecchi |
 |
Ducati | 1’32.674 | 0.903 | 0.183 |
| 16 | Andrea Dovizioso |
 |
Yamaha | 1’32.736 | 0.965 | 0.062 |
| 17 | Fabio Di Giannantonio |
 |
Ducati | 1’32.755 | 0.984 | 0.019 |
| 18 |  Brad Binder |
 |
KTM | 1’32.756 | 0.985 | 0.001 |
| 19 | Alex Marquez |
 |
Honda | 1’32.762 | 0.991 | 0.006 |
| 20 | Franco Morbidelli |
 |
Yamaha | 1’32.937 | 1.166 | 0.175 |
| 21 |  Miguel Oliveira |
 |
KTM | 1’33.021 | 1.250 | 0.084 |
| 22 | Remy Gardner |
 |
KTM | 1’33.302 | 1.531 | 0.281 |
| 23 | Raúl Fernández |
|
KTM | 1’34.151 | 2.380 | 0.849 |
| 24 | Darryn Binder |
 |
Yamaha | 1’34.624 | 2.853 | 0.473 |
| VIEW FULL RESULTS | ||||||
Free Practice 2
| Cla | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enea Bastianini |
 |
Ducati | 1’31.148 | ||
| 2 | Aleix Espargaro |
 |
Aprilia | 1’31.350 | 0.202 | 0.202 |
| 3 | Alex Rins |
 |
Suzuki | 1’31.445 | 0.297 | 0.095 |
| 4 | Johann Zarco |
 |
Ducati | 1’31.508 | 0.360 | 0.063 |
| 5 | Francesco Bagnaia |
 |
Ducati | 1’31.635 | 0.487 | 0.127 |
| 6 | Fabio Quartararo |
 |
Yamaha | 1’31.640 | 0.492 | 0.005 |
| 7 | Brad Binder |
 |
KTM | 1’31.657 | 0.509 | 0.017 |
| 8 | Joan Mir |
|
Suzuki | 1’31.666 | 0.518 | 0.009 |
| 9 | Jorge Martin |
|
Ducati | 1’31.912 | 0.764 | 0.246 |
| 10 | Jack Miller |
 |
Ducati | 1’31.914 | 0.766 | 0.002 |
| 11 | Franco Morbidelli |
 |
Yamaha | 1’32.025 | 0.877 | 0.111 |
| 12 | Maverick Viñales |
 |
Aprilia | 1’32.051 | 0.903 | 0.026 |
| 13 | Pol Espargaro |
|
Honda | 1’32.076 | 0.928 | 0.025 |
| 14 | Marc Marquez |
|
Honda | 1’32.153 | 1.005 | 0.077 |
| 15 | Fabio Di Giannantonio |
 |
Ducati | 1’32.275 | 1.127 | 0.122 |
| 16 | Marco Bezzecchi |
 |
Ducati | 1’32.314 | 1.166 | 0.039 |
| 17 | Luca Marini |
|
Ducati | 1’32.416 | 1.268 | 0.102 |
| 18 | Alex Marquez |
 |
Honda | 1’32.505 | 1.357 | 0.089 |
| 19 | Andrea Dovizioso |
|
Yamaha | 1’32.536 | 1.388 | 0.031 |
| 20 | Miguel Oliveira |
|
KTM | 1’32.695 | 1.547 | 0.159 |
| 21 | Remy Gardner |
 |
KTM | 1’32.737 | 1.589 | 0.042 |
| 22 | Takaaki Nakagami |
 |
Honda | 1’33.397 | 2.249 | 0.660 |
| 23 | Raúl Fernández |
 |
KTM | 1’33.557 | 2.409 | 0.160 |
| 24 | Darryn Binder |
 |
Yamaha | 1’33.561 | 2.413 | 0.004 |
