Bastianini Leads Friday Order At Le Mans
Calum Gill 15:22 13/05/2022
Gresini's Enea Bastianini recorded the new MotoGP lap record at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit en route to topping the second practice session of the French Grand Prix weekend.
Having just had a table-topping 01:31.523 deleted, Bastianini followed it up with a 01:31.148 moments before the chequered flag flew - surpassing Johann Zarco’s 2018 record by just under four hundredths. He then immediately crashed at the Dunlop chicane, but his lead came under no threat. Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaró was second, two tenths off Bastianini, while Álex Rins scored third for Suzuki. Having gotten his entry into Turn 2 wrong, Zarco was sent on a high-speed trip through the gravel that culminated in his Pramac Ducati briefly going airborne while crossing the track at the Dunlop chicane. He ultimately avoided crashing and wound up securing fourth place.
Spanish GP winner Francesco Bagnaia and Yamaha’s championship leader Fabio Quartararo completed the top six, ahead of Brad Binder - the lead KTM. In eighth place, Joan Mir was among the many riders to crash during the session, having dropped his Suzuki on entry to La Musée. VR46 Ducati rookie Marco Bezzecchi and LCR Honda’s Álex Márquez would have similar crashes in the same corner later on. There were also falls for Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati), Darryn Binder (RNF Yamaha), Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) and Jack Miller (Ducati).
No Hondas made the top 10, with Pol Espargaró leading the RC213V contingent in 13th, just ahead of Marc Márquez - who tucked the front while trying to follow Bagnaia but stayed on the bike.
