Honda rider Luca Marini topped the timesheet in FP1 at the 2026 French Grand Prix, battling Ducati’s Marc Marquez at Le Mans on Friday.
The opening training session is in 2026 French GP Many manufacturers show the potential to enjoy a strong weekend at Le Mans. But Marini He ended the 45-minute FP1 session as the only rider to post a lap time in the 1:30s, and no Ducati riders placed in the top three.
VR46 Racing Fabio D’GiantantonioAs has often been the case in the early rounds of the 2026 MotoGP season, he was once again the fourth-placed Ducati rider. Factory Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia briefly showed pace but both fell down the order.
Luca Marini completes FP1 at the top of the French GP! 💥 Can Honda expect another Le Mans miracle this weekend?
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Luca Marini He set the pace in the first practice session for the 2026 French Grand Prix
With Friday’s sessions being the only completely dry run the MotoGP teams will have at this year’s French GP, most riders were quick to start their runs at the start of FP1. The early run offered positive signs that many manufacturers could be competitive.
Read more: How to watch the weather forecast for the 2026 French Grand Prix and Le Mans

VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio continued his strong start to the season with the Ducati GP26 and the works Ducati riders took plenty of time to build into the session. KTM’s Pedro Acosta, Honda’s Luca Marini and Aprilia’s Marco Bezecchi also started well.
Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez soon entered the session, while Joan Mir also continued to lower the parameters of the VR46 star as the Honda RC213V moved Di Giannantonio’s pace. Marini and Mir both found Honda suitable for Le Mans during the pre-race season.
Even Tech3 ace Enea Bastianini started to gain some promising pace in FP1 at the French GP as the final quarter hour began. The Italian dragged the KTM RC16 into second, a 0.146-second deficit to Di Giantantonio’s early benchmark time of 1:31.302.
Marini hit the top of the order in 1:31.120 and it took until the final six minutes for a rival rider to dethrone Di Giantantonio’s standard. The Italian quickly became the first rider to break into the top 1:30s with a 1:30.857.
Unlike Spain last time, Tech3 are running two bikes in France this weekend. But Tech3 remains Without Maverick Vinales due to a shoulder injurySo they called KTM test rider Jonas Folger in his place. Folger last entered a MotoGP race at the 2023 German GP.
Folger’s recent lack of track time naturally saw the German finish last on the time sheet in FP1 at the French GP. Pramac rookie Torak Razgatlioglu struggled to find pace in his first lap around Le Mans, but Alex Rins offered some rare signs of hope for Yamaha in P6.
Full 2026 MotoGP French GP FP1 Timesheet at Le Mans
| POS | RIDER | group | GAP |
| 1 | Luca Marini | Honda | 1:30.857 |
| 2 | Pedro Acosta | KTM | +0.208s |
| 3 | Johann Zarko | LCR | +0.252 s |
| 4 | Fabio D’Giantantonio | VR46 | +0.268s |
| 5 | Raul Fernandez | Tracking house | +0.367s |
| 6 | Alex Rin | Yamaha | +0.445 s |
| 7 | Alex Marquez | Gresini | +0.470s |
| 8 | No. Ogura | Tracking house | +0.503s |
| 9 | Mark Marquez | Ducati | +0.531 s |
| 10 | Brad Binder | KTM | +0.537s |
| 11 | Joan Mir | Honda | +0.539s |
| 12 | Ine Bastianini | Tech3 | +0.591s |
| 13 | Fermin Aldeguer | Gresini | +0.655 s |
| 14 | Marco Bezecchi | Aprilia | +0.675 s |
| 15 | George Martin | Aprilia | +0.676 s |
| 16 | Jack Miller | Pramak | +0.729 s |
| 17 | Fabio Quatararo | Yamaha | +0.731 s |
| 18 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | +0.809s |
| 19 | Diogo Moreira | LCR | +0.976 s |
| 20 | Franco Morbidelli | VR46 | +1.035 s |
| 21 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Pramak | +1.759 s |
| 22 | Jonas Folger | Tech3 | +3.241 s |
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