Photo: motogp.com
It looks like old Jorge Lorenzo is back, as he claimed the top position on the time sheet in the 3rd Free Practice session ahead of the Grand Prix de France, at Le Mans. While Marc Marquez led the FP2 and seemed unstoppable in his road to a potential new pole position, Lorenzo turned out to outrun him in the very last lap of the outing.
Though still above the 1m33s mark, Lorenzo got very close, with his best lap in FP3 being 1m33s021, with a .045s lead over Marquez. A pleasant surprise came from the rookie Pol Espargaro, who was the third fastest rider on his Yamaha Tech3 machine, a tad over 2 tenths slower than Lorenzo. The top 5 was rounded with Alvaro Bautista and Valentino Rossi.
The following riders also got a place in Qualifying 2: Stefan Bradl, Dani Pedrosa, Bradley Smith, Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, with Aleix Espargaro being visibly not alright with his bike and missing Q2 by .067s. Looking at the combined Free Practice Times, Iannone, Redding and Laverty were the only three riders whose FP3 laps did not improve over their FP2 times.
The stakes are really high tomorrow at Le Mans, as Marc Marquez has solid chances of getting closer to the records of other MotoGP Legends, such as Mick Doohan, Mike Hailwood or Giacomo Agostini. If Marquez wins at Le Mans, Mike Hailwood’s 1962 record will be broken, and the Spaniard will become the youngest rider to win 5 successive races, at 21 years and 90 days. Hailwood was 22 years and 160 days when he had his 5th win in a row.
At the same time, a victory in France will make Marquez the first rider to win 5 MotoGP races in a row since Valentino Rossi in 2008, and the first rider from Giacomo Agostini to win the first 5 races of a season in the premier class. A pole and a win will make Marquez the first rider since Mick Doohan to win 5 or more successive races from the pole position. Back in 1997 Doohan won no less than 10 races he started from pole position. Finally, a pole at Le Mans will see the Spaniard as the first rider to start from pole in 6 or more consecutive races since Casey Stoner in 2008. Stoner’s record is 7 consecutive poles.
MotoGP FP4 at Le Mans starts in one hour, with Q1 and Q2 also scheduled for the afternoon.
The following riders also got a place in Qualifying 2: Stefan Bradl, Dani Pedrosa, Bradley Smith, Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, with Aleix Espargaro being visibly not alright with his bike and missing Q2 by .067s. Looking at the combined Free Practice Times, Iannone, Redding and Laverty were the only three riders whose FP3 laps did not improve over their FP2 times.
The stakes are really high tomorrow at Le Mans, as Marc Marquez has solid chances of getting closer to the records of other MotoGP Legends, such as Mick Doohan, Mike Hailwood or Giacomo Agostini. If Marquez wins at Le Mans, Mike Hailwood’s 1962 record will be broken, and the Spaniard will become the youngest rider to win 5 successive races, at 21 years and 90 days. Hailwood was 22 years and 160 days when he had his 5th win in a row.
At the same time, a victory in France will make Marquez the first rider to win 5 MotoGP races in a row since Valentino Rossi in 2008, and the first rider from Giacomo Agostini to win the first 5 races of a season in the premier class. A pole and a win will make Marquez the first rider since Mick Doohan to win 5 or more successive races from the pole position. Back in 1997 Doohan won no less than 10 races he started from pole position. Finally, a pole at Le Mans will see the Spaniard as the first rider to start from pole in 6 or more consecutive races since Casey Stoner in 2008. Stoner’s record is 7 consecutive poles.
MotoGP FP4 at Le Mans starts in one hour, with Q1 and Q2 also scheduled for the afternoon.
Google News