Garcia grabs top honours from Lopez on Friday

It was an exciting Friday afternoon in Moto2™ with many key contenders beginning to show their true pace at the Michelin® Grand Prix de France. In what continues to be one of the most unpredictable Moto2™ seasons yet, Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI) adds another chapter to the story and ends Friday on top at the French GP. The #3 claimed a new lap record at Le Mans, setting a spectacular 1:35.473 in the last five minutes of the session. Alonso Lopez (Folladore SpeedUp) was second after losing the front at the end of the session while on a fast lap, rider ok. However, third place went the way of Folladore SpeedUp’s Fermin Aldeguer, who found time on a last fast lap to rocket up the order.

It was an eventful session for some with lap times flooding in early on, Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) crashed after looking strong on Friday morning. Dixon ended the session in 20th, with work to do in Practice 2 on Saturday morning. Dennis Foggia (Italtrans Racing Team) had a fall of his own, with the Italian finishing the day in 22^nd ahead of Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team’s replacement rider, Daniel Muñoz.

Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) was a mere 0.307s adrift from the top spot after a great lap from the Spaniard. Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) was briefly at the top of the time sheets before crashing at turn three – unable to improve for the remainder of the session. Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) continued to improve, securing a direct entry spot in Q2. RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP’s Barry Baltus brought the #7 machine to seventh place on the timesheets, finishing the day ahead of Somkiat Chantra (IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia) in eighth.

Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) continued to show great pace after returning to race at the French GP. Canet finished in front of Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), Jeremy Alcoba (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), and Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), who rounded out the top 12 positions. OnlyFans American Racing Team’s Marcos Ramirez and Elf Marc VDS Racing Team’s Filip Salac rounded out the top 14 – the latter crashing on Friday afternoon.

The Moto2™ field will have one last opportunity on Saturday at 9:25 local time (UTC +2) for their chance to secure a spot inside the top 14 before qualifying begins at 13:45 local time. So, make sure you keep up to date with the action on motogp.com!

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