Ducati’s Marc Marquez responded to his crash at the Spanish Grand Prix by topping the opening MotoGP practice session at Le Mans.
Marquez stayed at the top of the timesheets for the entirety of the session, with his time of 1:30.764 proving to be his best lap of the session.
Brad Binder proved to be the nearest challenger to Marquez, moving into second place as the session drew to a conclusion, 0.576s away from the Spanish rider’s best time.
Four riders were split but four-hundredths of a second at the end of practice, with Alex Marquez prevailing to finish third.
Francesco Bagnaia had a surprisingly strong showing for a Friday practice session as he slotted in just 0.013s behind the Gresini rider.
Rookie Ai Ogura continued his strong performances in fifth, while Fabio Quartararo suggested his podium in Jerez may not be a one-off in sixth.
Franco Morbidelli was declared fit after suffering a concussion at the Spanish Grand Prix, but crashed at the end of practice and finished seventh.
Johann Zarco put in a strong practice in front of his home crowd in eighth, while Fermin Aldeguer was just behind in ninth.
Maverick Vinales rounded out the top 10 ahead of Pedro Acosta, who was declared fit after undergoing arm pump surgery last week.
Jack Miller ended the opening practice in 12th, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was 0.999s off Marquez’s best time in 13th.
The factory Honda pair finished 14th and 15th respectively, with Joan Mir besting team-mate Luca Marini.
Marco Bezzecchi took 16th for Aprilia ahead of Alex Rins, who crashed late in the session in 17th.
Enea Bastianini was 18th for Tech3 KTM, while Takaaki Nakagami was 19th on his debut wildcard appearance for Honda.
Raul Fernandez suffered a crash in the early stages of the opening practice session, with his Trackhouse machine going up in flames. However, the Spanish rider was able to set a time in 20th.
Miguel Oliveira returned to MotoGP action and was 21st, with Lorenzo Savadori completing the standings in 22nd.
