Shocking day for MotoGP, the opening of the French GP, with a lot of crash, happily without serious consequences to regret. Despite the fact that the forecasts that pointed to rain at Le Mans were not met, up to eight crashes have been seen in P2 of the premier class, a long sequence closed by the dragging of Marc Márquez at the entrance to turn 9, which was the second of the day for the Repsol Honda rider. Before him, Aleix, Morbidelli, Savadori, Mir, Agusto, Álex Márquez and Martín did.
The eight-time world champion has reappeared as he used to, giving his all and not caring about having spent the last month and a half without touching a motorcycle due to the fracture in the thumb of his right hand, the result of the fall in the Portimao race. Despite the two mishaps, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, the upset face on returning to the box will end up giving off the usual smile for having fulfilled part of the objectives for this first day. input, The ilerdense man gained direct access to Q2 by qualifying in eighth place, 0.482 behind Jack Miller, who was the fastest on his KTM both in the morning and in the afternoon. And more important than the result is that Marc has finally been able to test the chassis that Kalex has made for the Honda, The same one that tester Stefan Bradl already used for the first time in the Jerez test and with which Joan Mir was only able to do one lap in that test before the bike stopped due to electronic problems.
Marc’s debut with the German frame came in P1, after the crash suffered at turn 11 with the bike with which he started the season. After going by the team truck to change into overalls, because he had ripped his right sleeve, He returned to the charge with 20:37 to go and was able to experience his first sensations with that long-awaited piece in the Honda box. He was twelfth, while his teammate Mir finished sixth in P1 with that new chassis.
Back in the afternoon, the usual warrior Márquez and go-getter was seen, that Marc who has no complexes when it comes to looking for wheels because he can’t hit this Honda on his own. First he tried to stick to Bagnaia’s wheel, but the leader went into the pits to get rid of him. However, when the Ducati rider returned to the track minutes later he found that he had Jorge Martín and Márquez behind him, but this time he decided to shoot because time was running out. Aleix Espargaró was also able to try to follow his wheel, but the man from Granollers chose not to shorten the track, as Martín and Márquez did, imitating Bagnaia himself, and continued on his own to get to first with 2:11 to go.
Unlike other Fridays, this time the Aprilia rider could not hold out at the top of the time table because Miller overtook him by 119 thousandths of a second with eight seconds to go. It didn’t really matter, because the job was already done, and then he saw how Márquez went off in front of him in an attempt to pass with the time already up, something that made Aprilia’s also go slightly off.
In the end, The ten drivers who finish Friday with their homework done and direct access to Q2 have been Miller, Aleix, Bezzecchi, Martín, Zarco, Maverick, Binder, Márquez, Bagnaia and Álex Márquez. They will have to go through the purgatory of Q1, Marini, Quartararo, Mir, Rins, Augusto Fernández, Nakagami, Morbidelli, Di Giannantonio, Petrucci, Savador, Folger and Raúl Fernández has not taken part due to injury in this P2, who is low for the that remains of GP with problems in the right forearm.
