Pol Espargaró 'talks' on track to lead Le Mans FP1

Le Mans.- There is no better motivation than seeing yourself cornered and Pol Espargaró’s response to the strong rumors that he will lose his place in the official Honda team in 2023 was to ‘talk’ on the track and lead the start of the Grand Prix of France. For the Spanish rider, it is the first time that he has led a practice session with a completely dry track, nailing the time at 1:31:771, just over half a second from the absolute track record set by Johann Zarco in 2018 with 1:31: 185.

Behind Pol finished another who needs to be seen, Alex Rins, who after the announcement of Suzuki’s departure from the championship is now looking for a place on the 2023 grid, the Catalan beat Pecco Bagnaia, who at the last minute managed to improve the time of the local idol, Fabio Quartararo, who was fourth ahead of Aleix Espargaró and his Aprilia. Joan Mir finished sixth, ahead of Jack Miller, Maverick Viñales, Johann Zarco and Luca Marini, who fitted soft tires at the last minute to improve his time and get into Q2 provisionally.

Out of that top 10 ended Enea Bastianini or Marc Márquez, who finished 13th and third for Honda on the time sheet. Jorge Martín finished 14th, with Andrea Dovizioso 16th and Franco Morbidelli, who still hasn’t raised his head, 20th. Raúl Fernández, who reappeared after two races out due to an injury to his right hand, finished 23rd and penultimate on the time sheet.

MotoGP FP1 classification:

Cla	#	Pilot		Motorcycle	laps	Weather	Difference	Interval	Km/h	Top speed
1	44	Pol Espargaro		Sling	twenty-one	1’31,771			174,251	0
2	42	Alex Rins		Suzuki	21	1’31.880	0.109	0.109	174.044	0
3	63	Pecco Bagnaia		Ducati	22	1’31.893	0.122	0.013	174,019	0
4	20	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	23	1’31,912	0.141	0.019	173.983	0
5	41	Aleix Espargaró		April	21	1’31,933	0.162	0.021	173,944	0
6	36	Joan Mir		Suzuki	21	1’31.942	0.171	0.009	173.927	0
7	43	Jack Miller		Ducati	22	1’31.961	0.190	0.019	173,891	0
8	12	Maverick Viñales		Aprilia	20	1’32.078	0.307	0.117	173.670	0
9	5	Johann Zarco		Ducati	23	1’32.112	0.341	0.034	173,606	0
10	10	Luca Marini		Ducati	19	1’32.128	0.357	0.016	173.575	0
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