The MotoGP French Grand Prix kicked off with Jorge Martín setting the pace in the first free practice session. This is one of the two sessions of the weekend where times don’t count, giving more freedom to riders and teams to focus on preparation. The top three were separated by less than three tenths of a second.
Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) was the initial session leader with a 0.222s gap over Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), followed by Enea Bastianini (Ducati). Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) exceeded track limits and lost his initial time.
Bagnaia beaten Martín in the second laps, with Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46/Ducati) briefly in third. Times continued to improve, and Marc Márquez became the next leader – a position he briefly lost before improving again to become the first to break into the 1m31s.
The table stabilized for a few minutes at the top positions, despite the closeness between the front runners. With less than 20 minutes until the checkered flag, Bastianini overtook Marc Márquez to take the lead. Martín did the same shortly after but settled for second.
The session was thrilling at this stage: with fifteen minutes to go, the top four were Bastianini, Martín, Marc Márquez, and Bezzecchi, separated by less than a tenth of a second. With ten minutes remaining, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech3/KTM) joined this group of riders when he climbed to second place… before taking the lead.
Martín also overtook Bastianini but settled for second behind Acosta… before beating his rival with two minutes to go. Martín ended up in the lead, passing Acosta by 0.237s.
A late late crash with no consequences for @BradBinder_33 at T11 ⚠️#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/bdstNPOWAK
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 10, 2024
In third was Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) 0.257s behind, followed by Bastianini and Bagnaia. In the final minutes, several laps were invalidated due to yellow flags caused by Brad Binder’s (Red Bull KTM) crash. Marc Márquez finished ninth, 0.550s behind Martín.
Timesheets: