SIC58 Squadra Corse rider Niccolo Antonelli led the Moto3 combined times on Friday for the French Grand Prix, Kaito Toba second despite a crash in FP2.
Jorge Martin led the timesheets at the end of the opening 40-minute session at Le Mans on his Gresini Honda, the Spaniard going on a run of successive session-best laps in the latter stages to secure top spot with a 1:43.114s.
Prustel GP's Jakub Kornfeil was just over a tenth adrift of Martin in second, with Andrea Migno putting on a late charge in FP1 to complete the top three on his Nieto KTM, while Tony Arbolino and Enea Bastianini rounded out the top five.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi was sixth fastest in the morning, while there were heavy crashes for Fabio Di Giannantonio [23rd] and Ayumu Sasaki [24th] – both were unscathed and able to take part in FP2.
Arbolino opened up FP2 with the best time of the day so far with a 1:42.852s, which stood as the benchmark until the final minutes when Antonelli guided his Honda to a 1:42.596s to get to with a tenth and a half of the outright Moto3 lap record.
Antonelli's time remained unchallenged come the chequered flag, with Toba – who slotted into second with a 1:42.644s – unable to improve after touching the rear of his Honda Team Asia stablemate Nakarin Athiratphuvapat and crashing on his final lap.
Enea Bastianini completed the top three on his Leopard Honda ahead of long-time session leader Arbolino, while Bezzecchi rounded out the top five on his Prustel GP KTM.
Aron Canet was sixth fastest after Friday's running, though the Estrella Galicia rider will start Sunday's race from last regardless of where he qualifies on Saturday after he was deemed to have caused the collision at Jerez which took out Martin, Arbolino and Bastianini.
Di Giannantonio was seventh after his heavy FP1 fall, with Tatsuki Suzuki, Martin and Jerez race winner Philipp Oettl completing the top 10 on the combined standings.
Canet's teammate Alonso Lopez was a late faller in FP2, as was RBA's Gabriel Rodrigo and Leopard's Lorenzo Dalla Porta, who suffered his second fall of the weekend. Migno crashed at the Dunlop chicane five minutes into FP2.
