Interesting MotoGP FP1 at the French GP, with several clear readings. The first of them, which Marc Márquez’s right arm is beginning to be bomb-proof, because he starred in his first save on the right side after his injury in July 2020 and avoided with his usual mastery a fall that seemed safe when the direction was closed when he went through the curb of turn eight. Another clear reading the vindication of a Pol Espargaró who starts first and the enormous desire of Álex Rins, the same one who already said yesterday that he wanted to show Suzuki that they were wrong with their decision to abandon the World Championship and in Le Mans he started second, 0.109 from the head.
Pol’s time with the Honda that Joan Mir intends, although his representative assures that nothing is closed yet and that he is also in negotiations with Yamaha and Aprilia, is from 1:31.771 and it is very good to start, because it falls within half a second of the track record, held by Johann Zarco since 2018 with 1:31.185.
The first session of the weekend has had five crashes, those of Fernández, Brad Binder, Morbidelli and Oliveira, who has crashed twice, and the ten who have achieved provisional direct access to Q2 have been Pol, Rins, Bagnaia, Quartararo, Aleix (the spectacular camera on his shoulder ‘on board’ that he has installed inside his suit), Mir, Miller, Maverick, Zarco and Marini. Further back, Márquez 13th (a poor result for him at the start, 0.495 behind his boxing partner in the Repsol Honda), Martín 14th, Álex Márquez 19th and Fernández 23rd.
Point out before finishing the disturbing image that Quartararo has provided in the box when he has resorted to a striker to relieve the pressure he felt on his right forearm. And it is that the champion already had compartment syndrome problems last year. In Jerez he was going to win on the fairway until the pressure on his forearm made him lose strength and many positions in the race. We will have to be attentive to his evolution.