Marcel Schrotter ended the opening day of Moto2 running for the French Grand Prix fastest of all, after Sam Lowes' best lap from FP2 was cancelled for exceeding track limits.
Despite still suffering from ligament damage in his shoulder from his monster crash during the Austin race, Dynavolt Intact GP's Schrotter set the pace in the first 45-minutes session of the day with a 1:37.001s.
Alex Marquez was just under a tenth of a second outside of Schrotter's time, while Jorge Navarro completed the top three having sat top of the pile briefly in the closing stages.
Lowes was fourth despite a crash at the Dunlop chicane, while championship leader Francesco Bagnaia was left in eighth after a heavy fall at the same place.
Alex Marquez was the early pacesetter in the second session with a 1:37.537s, with Mattia Pasini going top moments later with a 1:37.340s before crashing at Garage Vert.
10 minutes after Pasini hit the top of the timesheets, Bagnaia guided his Sky VR46 Kalex to a 1:37.082s to take over from his fellow Italian, and remained top of the pile until the closing stages.
Lowes did depose Bagnaia with a 1:36.946s, which stood as the fastest lap of the day as the chequered flag fell.
However, the CGBM Evolution KTM rider had this lap canceled for running wide at the exit of the final corner, and this dropped him to 10th on the combined timesheets.
This promoted Bagnaia back up to first to top the second session, but his 1:37.082s was a fraction outside of Schrotter's best, meaning the German rider remained the man to be heading into Saturday's action.
Marquez held onto third overall despite a late fall at the final corner, the Marc VDS rider edging ahead of teammate Joan Mir, who was set to go top in the closing stages of the session before running through the chicane at Turn 9.
Navarro suffered two crashes in FP2, but was still fifth overall on his Gresini Kalex, while Simone Corsi, Pasini, Miguel Oliveira – who also fell in the closing stages – and Romano Fenati slotting in ahead of Lowes to complete the top 10, with Jerez race winner Lorenzo Baldassarri 11th.
Moto2 debutant Niki Tuuli, who has been drafted in from the World Supersport Championship as the permanent replacement for Zulfahmi Khairuddin at the SIC team, ended his first day in the class 30th overall.
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