A slick tyre gamble from Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) sees the Australian sit comfortably clear of the competition in FP1 at the SHARK Grand Prix de France, his 1:38.007 is 1.481s quicker than second place Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing). Despite an earlier bike issue, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) took P3 in a frantic opening MotoGP™ session of the weekend.
Straight to the top for @jackmilleraus! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) May 14, 2021
But the dark clouds are rolling in and spots of rain falling! ☁️#FrenchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/ggZvglT8ao
It was a damp start to FP1 for the premier class field as the riders gently acquainted themselves with the tricky conditions at Le Mans. However, because there was no rain falling, a dry line started to appear towards the end of the 45-minute stint. This saw a couple of riders head out on slicks as the clock ticked down into the final 10 minutes, something that could prove vital with weather conditions looking adverse for the entire weekend.
One of those was, of course, Miller and the Jerez winner managed to slam in that table-topping time. This was crucial for automatic Q2 places, because these could well be the best conditions the riders would face all weekend. Spits of rain then saw the riders head back out on wet tyres, with plenty of shuffling happening in the top 10 in the closing stages.
Behind the leading trio sits a pair of Repsol Honda Team riders: Pol Espargaro leading Marc Marquez by 0.006s. Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) are also sitting in the top 10 after FP1, with Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) also pocketing top 10s at this early – but vital – stage of the Grand Prix.
Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) crashed unhurt in the FP1, the former went down at Turn 4 just after coming out of pitlane.
Slowest crash ever?! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) May 14, 2021
Maverick Viñales exits the pits, and goes straight down! ????#FrenchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/5UNKI63e0w
Tune into FP2 at 14:10 local time to see if we're going to see any dry running on the opening day in France!
Top 10:
1. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1:38.007
2. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 1.481
3. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 2.062
4. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 2.108
5. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 2.114
6. Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 2.237
7. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 2.249
8. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 2.575
9. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 2.672
10. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 3.022
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL RESULTS!