Espargaro shows speed immediately in Le Mans 13.05.2022: Grand Prix de France MotoGP 2022 Round 7 A provisional spot in the top ten for fast-starting Pol Espargaro as Marc Marquez flexes his elbow with two impressive saves but both riders are working for more tomorrow.

Grand Prix de France
MotoGP 2022   Round 7



A provisional spot in the top ten for fast-starting Pol Espargaro as Marc Marquez flexes his elbow with two impressive saves but both riders are working for more tomorrow.


Fans had already begun to fill the camp sites of the Le Mans circuit from Thursday and they continued to flow through the gates as Friday practice began. Blessed with sunshine and good weather, the opening day in France proved to be a productive one for the Repsol Honda Team.



Leading the way in Free Practice 1, Pol Espargaro proved his love for the 4.2-kilometre-long circuit is far from over. His 1’31.771 in FP1 put him a tenth clear of second placed Alex Rins and would be good enough to maintain his position in the combined top ten throughout the day.



Getting to within three tenths of his reference time in the afternoon, Espargaro was hampered by a number of yellow flags as he pushed to improve during the second session. There is still time to find and Espargaro knows he will need to put together the perfect lap on Saturday to be in contention for one of the top six positions on the grid in order to fight in Sunday’s race.



Marc Marquez had a case of déjà vu during Free Practice 1 as the Repsol Honda Team rider expertly picked up his Honda RC213V over the kerbs at Garage Vert, echoing his heroics from practice during the 2019 French GP.



This was followed up by another save on his famous elbow towards the end of Free Practice 2 as Marquez’s feeling since returning from injury continues to improve. A best time of 1’32.153 had the #93 a second behind Bastianini, the young Italian topping Friday’s time sheet, and 0.4s back from his fellow Repsol Honda Team rider. Marquez is aware there is still work to do before he can set a target for Sunday.


Both Repsol Honda Team riders will be looking to make improvements tomorrow as they hunt the final crucial tenths of a second.   
    
       
    
Pol Espargaro  44
1’31.771  NINTH


"This morning went very well and then in the afternoon I tried to improve my lap time but there were a lot of yellow flags which stopped some of our laps and then on our best lap I made a mistake.

At the end I feel good on the bike and it’s not a bad day, but we need to perform tomorrow to end up with a good Qualifying spot. You need to start in the front two rows of the grid to perform for Sunday. We have the pace, but we need to put it together when it matters tomorrow."         

    
       


    
Marc Marquez  93
1’32.153  15TH


"FP2 was a real save and FP1 was more luck honestly! In FP1 I was on the kerb and I lost the front, so I tried to push with my right knee on the floor and the bike stood up when we came back to asphalt. But I am struggling a bit to understand how to be fast here.


I need to turn the bike quicker and that’s where we are. We need to improve tomorrow, the target for FP3 is to get into the top ten for Q2. We will see what tomorrow bring, we already have some ideas to try."         

    
       
    
French Grand Prix Friday Practice Results


1    BASTIANINI Enea     23    ITA    Team Gresini Racing MotoGP    Ducati    1'31.148
2    ESPARGARO Aleix     41    SPA    Aprilia Racing    Aprilia    0.202
3    RINS Alex     42    SPA    Team Suzuki Ecstar    Suzuki    0.297
4    ZARCO Johann     5    FRA    Pramac Racing    Ducati    0.360
5    BAGNAIA Francesco     62    ITA    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati    0.487
6    QUARTARARO Fabio     20    FRA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    0.492
7    BINDER Brad     33    RSA    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    0.509
8    MIR Joan     36    SPA    Team Suzuki Ecstar    Suzuki    0.518
9    ESPARGARO Pol     44    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    0.623
10    MARTIN Jorge     89    SPA    Pramac Racing    Ducati    0.764
11    MILLER Jack     43    AUS    Ducati Lenovo Team    Ducati    0.766
12    MORBIDELLI Franco     21    ITA    Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP    Yamaha    0.877
13    VINALES Maverick     12    SPA    Aprilia Racing    Aprilia    0.903
14    MARINI Luca     10    ITA    Mooney VR46 Racing Team    Ducati    0.980
15    MARQUEZ Marc     93    SPA    Repsol Honda Team    Honda    1.005
16    NAKAGAMI Takaaki     30    JPN    LCR Honda    Honda    1.017
17    DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio     49    ITA    Team Gresini Racing MotoGP    Ducati    1.127
18    BEZZECCHI Marco     73    ITA    Mooney VR46 Racing Team    Ducati    1.166
19    MARQUEZ Alex     73    SPA    LCR Honda    Honda    1.357
20    DOVIZIOSO Andrea     4    ITA    WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team    Yamaha    1.388
21    OLIVEIRA Miguel     88    POR    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    1.547
22    GARDNER Remy     87    AUS    Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing    KTM    1.589
23    FERNANDEZ Raul     25    SPA    Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing    KTM    2.409
24    BINDER Darryn     40    RSA    WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team    Yamaha    2.413
    
    


    
 Repsol Honda Team - MotoGP, also photos