French MotoGP, Le Mans – Saturday Practice Results

* Rookie

Fastest Friday time:
Jack Miller AUS KTM 1m 30.950s

Official Le Man MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 1m 30.450s (2022)
Fastest race lap:
Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati 1m 31.778s (2022)

Maverick Vinales leads a damp FP3 for the French MotoGP at Le Mans from Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller.

Conditions were good enough for slicks from the start, with the track continuing to dry after overnight rain, but lap times were two seconds off the best on Friday.

Vinales set his best time on his final lap, while running in maximum downforce configuration with the addition of the Aprilia rear wing and front fork wing.

Marco Bezzecchi fell on his out lap and didn’t return while Marc Marquez, who has both his Repsol Hondas fitted with the new Kalex frame, waited until ten minutes were gone before leaving the pits. Team-mate Joan Mir continued to have one Kalex frame, meaning there are at least three available…

Jack Miller, fastest on Friday, jokingly pointed the TV cameras at a picture of a boat on the wall of the KTM pits – a reference to the bet with his wife Ruby that he can buy a new boat when he wins a race.

The Australian was quickest for most of the session, until Vinales and Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia moved ahead of him in the closing stages.

Miller – like Bagnaia – had to stop at the end of the pit lane due to some kind of technical issue and push his bike back to the pit box.

Qualifying 1, featuring the likes of home hero Fabio Quartararo, will now take place.

• Le Mans: Latest Moto2 Results
• Le Mans: Latest Moto3 Results

Marc Marquez has finally been cleared to make a MotoGP return this weekend after being ruled out of Argentina, COTA and Jerez due to a delicate thumb fracture when he lost control under braking and collided with Miguel Oliveira in the Portimao season-opener.

Earlier this week, the MotoGP Court of Appeal also confirmed that Marquez will not need to serve the double Long lap penalty he received for causing that incident, having overturned the FIM Stewards attempt to shift the penalty from ‘Argentina’ to Marquez’s next race back.

The eight-time world champion is 80 points behind reigning champion and 2023 title leader Francesco Bagnaia, but with 592 points still available (92 more than the entire 2022 season) under the new Sprint (12 points) + GP (25) race weekend format.

Danilo Petrucci is returning to MotoGP action in place of the injured Enea Bastianini, riding for the same factory Ducati team with which he won in the wet at Le Mans in 2020.

After leaving MotoGP as a full-time rider following a tough year at Tech3 KTM in 2021, Petrucci competed in the Dakar and MotoAmerica before a one-off MotoGP ride for Suzuki at Buriram last season.

The Italian, 32, is currently eleventh in the World Superbike standings with a best finish of fifth place for Barni Ducati.

Bastianini, who broke his shoulder when he was taken down by Luca Marini in the Portimao sprint race, attempted to return at Jerez but withdrew due to the pain.

Miguel Oliveira is missing after suffering a left shoulder dislocation and fracture when he was caught up in Fabio Quartararo’s opening lap accident in Jerez.

Oliveira, who previously missed Argentina due to hip injuries from the impact by Marc Marquez’s Honda at Portimao, is being replaced at RNF by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori.

Team-mate Raul Fernandez, who underwent arm pump surgery following Jerez, tried to ride in Practice 1 but withdrew from the remainder of the weekend after just three laps.

GASGAS Tech3’s Pol Espargaro remains absent due to his multiple injuries in Portimao and is again replaced by KTM test rider Jonas Folger.