Johannes Zarco led MotoGP World Championship practice at Le Mans in France on Friday afternoon. Riding his own Castrol Honda LCR RC213V on special Michelin tires, the Frenchman clocked a lap time of 1:29.907 to lead the 22-rider field.
Fabio Di Giannantonio was the best of the rest with a 1:29.917 in the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Desmosedici GP26.
Francesco Bagnaia was third in 1:30.045 on the Lenovo Team Ducati Desmosedici GP26.
Alex Marquez finished fourth in the BK8 Gresini Racing Ducati Desmosedici GP26 session with a time of 1:30.045.
Joan Mir took fifth on her Honda HRC Castrol RC213V with a lap time of 1:30.092.
More from the MotoGP press release:
Heroic Zarco moves to P1 as he faces Marc Marquez in Q1 at Le Mans. World champion Marc Marquez was far from on Friday, and last year’s winner was on his way out of the field straight away.
We promise happiness and that’s definitely a promise we won’t break. Yohan Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) has started his 2026 home Grand Prix as he finished last year’s weekend in P1, as he finished in action on Friday. The Frenchman was in strong form on a dry run on day one of the French Grand Prix, just 0.010s behind Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR4 Racing Team) to give the home crowd something to watch. Double world champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) took third despite a late crash.
Early fountains in France
It wasn’t the best start to practice for George Martin (Aprilia Racing) when the 2024 world champion and French GP winner crashed at turn 9 just over five minutes into the event. He wasn’t the only one, 15 minutes later, Fermin Aldeguerre (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) was similarly locked up front, this time in turn 3 – despite best efforts to save him. With less than half an hour to go, Raúl Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) suffered a major burst of flames with his RS-GP, temporarily stopping Friday afternoon.
Calm before the storm
In front and looking like a speed dial rider was Di Giannantonio. He had been P2 in FP1 earlier in the day and was now flying the #49 leading the charge in the afternoon. This was not before the great pressure of the home winner last year; Not only did Zarco go up by one lap, but as we approached the final ten minutes he set the fastest lap of the session back.
The last 15 minutes
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was on the charge as Zarco plied his trade and home hero Fabio Quattararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) climbed into the provisional top ten but lost the lead in the first corner. On his feet and quickly running to the pits for a spare bike, ‘Shark’ still hopes he can consolidate his position in Q2.
Meanwhile, another Honda hit the front, this time Joan Mir – the Spaniard took the lead in the morning session and at seven minutes on the clock, he was doing it again. That was until world champion Bagnaya shot ahead with a 1’30.045. With five minutes to go, he played the final roll of the dice once and for all.
A late-season surprise was Alex Rins’ (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) rocket to break into the top ten with the improvements of Martin and Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) battling throughout the session to break into the top ten late on. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) both made it into the top ten, edging Marc Marquez out of the top ten. Team-mate Bagnaya crashed on the final flying lap, but the #93 couldn’t improve on his first Q1 appearance since finishing 13th last season from Indonesia.Th.
Your Friday Top 10
Zarco on top of Le Mans – a dream start to the weekend for those who carry the big stage. ‘Diggia’ was again P2 and found himself behind a separate Honda in FP1, with Bagnaia, Alex Marquez and Mir completing the top five. Martin, Bezecchi, Rins, Ogura and Acosta will all be represented in Q2 after practicing directly with the P10 manufacturers. It covers less than three tenths of a tenth, incredibly close in MotoGP.
Q1 resistors
Missing the cut were Innea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and KTM teammate Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) as well as Marc Marquez in 13Th. 2025 polesitter Quartararo was only 17Th Aldeguer was 21 from last year’s double podium win.St. There are only two spots available on Saturday morning…
Sprint awaits Saturday.
MotoGP qualifying starts at 10:50 local time, with the Tissot Sprint live at 15:00. Rain in the air, who knows what will happen? The French GP at Le Mans: Can contain nuts.
MotoGP practice results from Le Mans!
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