Practice report
MotoGP French GP
Le Mans MotoGP: Smith quickest for Aprilia in wet FP1
Bradley Smith topped a wet first practice for the MotoGP French Grand Prix on the Aprilia ahead of home hero Johann Zarco on the Avintia Ducati.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Oct 9, 2020, 9:49 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Smith’s future beyond this weekend is uncertain as Andrea Iannone’s appeal to have his 18-month doping ban overturned will be heard on Thursday and could be in a position to return for the Aragon Grand Prix next weekend.
Despite a spate of crashes in the preceding Moto3 session, riders were quick to start learning the conditions when the first premier class outing of the weekend got under way.
MotoGP’s last full wet race was the 2018 Valencia Grand Prix, which was won by Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso and featured Pol Espargaro on the KTM on the podium.
Both traded top spot in the early part of FP1 at Le Mans, with the Ducati taking the advantage briefly with a 1m45.785s with around 28 minutes to go.
Moments later, Ducati stablemates Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia on the Pramac GP20 would demote him, before Danilo Petrucci on the sister works team Desmosedici took over top spot with a 1m45.326s.
Petrucci – who was on the podium in the dry at Le Mans last year – was shuffled back by Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales with a 1m45.121s, though the Ducati rider ensured this was short-lived when he posted a 1m44.931s.
With eight minutes to go, Miller returned to the top of the timesheets with a 1m44.735s, which soon came under threat as lap times continued to drop as the session drew to a close.
Petrucci toppled Miller’s time with a 1m44.409s, though the Australian retaliated with a 1m44.346s, before Vinales guided the factory M1 to a 1m44.180s.
As the chequered flag came out, Smith was hooking together a lap threatening top spot on the Aprilia and produced a 1m43.804s to end FP1 fastest of all by 0.154 seconds.
Zarco leaped up to second on his final lap on his GP19, with Petrucci holding onto the top three ahead of Miller and Dovizioso, with Vinales completing the top six.
Morbidelli was shuffled back to seventh ahead of Valentino Rossi on the works team Yamaha, while LCR’s Cal Crutchlow – who admitted on Thursday his right arm is “not in a great situation” still – was ninth on the Honda and ahead of KTM’s Espargaro.
The Suzuki duo of Alex Rins and Joan Mir were 11th and 12th, while championship leader Fabio Quartararo was some 2.6s off the pace down in 18th.
With weather forecasts predicting drier conditions across the weekend, the need to push in FP1 came with little reward and likely influenced Quartararo’s caution.
Stefan Bradl didn’t set a time on the factory Honda, though has spent the last two days at the Algarve circuit in Portugal testing the RC213V.
FP1 results:
Cla Rider Bike Time Gap 1 Bradley Smith
Aprilia 1'43.804 2 Johann Zarco
Ducati 1'43.958 0.154 3 Danilo Petrucci
Ducati 1'44.024 0.220 4 Jack Miller
Ducati 1'44.132 0.328 5 Andrea Dovizioso
Ducati 1'44.148 0.344 6 Maverick Viñales
Yamaha 1'44.180 0.376 7 Franco Morbidelli
Yamaha 1'44.441 0.637 8 Valentino Rossi
Yamaha 1'44.511 0.707 9 Cal Crutchlow
Honda 1'44.654 0.850 10 Pol Espargaro
KTM 1'44.760 0.956 11 Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati 1'44.783 0.979 12 Alex Rins
Suzuki 1'44.846 1.042 13 Joan Mir
Suzuki 1'44.980 1.176 14 Alex Marquez
Honda 1'44.981 1.177 15 Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia 1'46.122 2.318 16 Brad Binder
KTM 1'46.245 2.441 17 Takaaki Nakagami
Honda 1'46.474 2.670 18 Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha 1'46.494 2.690 19 Miguel Oliveira
KTM 1'46.518 2.714 20 Iker Lecuona
KTM 1'46.618 2.814 21 Tito Rabat
Ducati 1'46.856 3.052 22 Stefan Bradl
Honda View full results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Quartararo relishing title battle with former teammate Mir
Next article Le Mans MotoGP: Miller sets FP2 pace in tricky conditions
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Duncan
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
More from
Bradley Smith
Aprilia names three riders for 2021 MotoGP season
MotoGP
MotoGP
Aprilia names three riders for 2021 MotoGP season
Smith a “valid option” for Aprilia MotoGP race seat
MotoGP
MotoGP
Smith a “valid option” for Aprilia MotoGP race seat
SIC names Smith's replacement for new MotoE season
MotoE
MotoE
SIC names Smith's replacement for new MotoE season
More from
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
Vinales “very sad” MotoGP season ending after “very late” start
MotoGP
MotoGP
Valencia GP
Vinales “very sad” MotoGP season ending after “very late” start
Vinales “satisfied” with Aprilia MotoGP move
MotoGP
MotoGP
Vinales “satisfied” with Aprilia MotoGP move
Vinales out of "my comfort zone" in Aprilia MotoGP debut
MotoGP
MotoGP
Aragon GP
Vinales out of "my comfort zone" in Aprilia MotoGP debut
Latest news
Christian Horner admits he doesn't need F1 return after £67 million Red Bull payout
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Christian Horner admits he doesn't need F1 return after £67 million Red Bull payout
Jorge Martin braced for “really difficult, painful” MotoGP weekend with broken arm
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin braced for “really difficult, painful” MotoGP weekend with broken arm
Alex Marquez moves to end MotoGP Qatar GP speculation: 'The race is confirmed'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Alex Marquez moves to end MotoGP Qatar GP speculation: 'The race is confirmed'
Jorge Martin declared fit to start Malaysian GP weekend
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin declared fit to start Malaysian GP weekend
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe