Marini Tops FP1, Zarco FP2 at Le Mans MotoGP

Honda riders dominated the opening practice sessions of the MotoGP French Grand Prix at Le Mans on Friday, with Luca Marini leading the first session and Johann Zarco topping the second to secure direct entry into Saturday's Q2 qualifying.

In FP1, Marini set the pace at 1 minute, 30.857 seconds on the Bugatti circuit, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio of VR46 Ducati by 0.054 seconds and Red Bull KTM's Pedro Acosta by 0.208 seconds. Zarco placed fourth for LCR Honda at 0.252 seconds off the lead, while the top 20 riders finished within just over one second. Several riders, including Marini and Acosta, switched to fresh rear tires late in the session to post their best laps.

Zarco then stamped his authority in FP2 with a time of 1:29.907, edging Di Giannantonio by a mere 0.010 seconds. Ducati Lenovo's Francesco Bagnaia took third at 0.138 seconds behind, followed by Gresini Ducati's Alex Marquez in fourth. Factory Honda's Joan Mir rounded out a strong showing for the Japanese manufacturer in fifth, 0.185 seconds off Zarco's benchmark, ahead of Aprilia Racing's Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi. The session was tightly contested, with the top 19 riders covered by 0.8 seconds.