Maverick Vinales - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com
Maverick Vinales set the pace in Friday practice at Le Mans as he goes in search of a second consecutive victory at the French track. The Spanish teenager announced himself on the world stage with his superb maiden win 12 months ago and has been utterly dominant so far on his second visit.
The Avintia Blusens rider edged out Miguel Oliveira in the morning session, clocking a 1:45.437, and went over a second quicker in the afternoon, giving him a healthy cushion of 0.632s over Luis Salom, with Louis Rossi best placed of the home riders in third. Oliveira only trimmed three tenths off his morning time and slipped back to fourth overall.
Despite suffering his first retirement two weeks ago, Romano Fenati appeared totally unaffected as he set about learning another new track. The Italian sensation was fifth fastest just ahead of fellow rookie Alex Rins while Efren Vazquez, almost ten years their senior, took seventh.
Zulfahmi Khairuddin was the quickest factory KTM rider in eighth, one place ahead of Sandro Cortese who had a troubled afternoon. The championship leader was third quickest in the morning but suffered a mechanical failure in FP2, preventing him from improving on his earlier effort.
Teammate Danny Kent was eleventh while Danny Webb impressed on board the Mahindra, finishing the day in eighteenth. Marcel Schrotter had a miserable time on the other MGP30 and only completed two laps in the afternoon, leaving him at the bottom of the timesheets.
Moto3 Monster Energy Grand Prix de France: Combined Friday Practice Times
| Pos | Rider | Motorcycle | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Maverick Viñales |
FTR Honda | Blusens Avintia | 1:44.141 |
| 2 | Luis Salom |
Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +0.632 |
| 3 |  Louis Rossi |
FTR Honda | Racing Team Germany | +0.786 |
| 4 |  Miguel Oliveira |
Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +1.044 |
| 5 |  Romano Fenati |
FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | +1.061 |
| 6 | Alex Rins |
Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +1.254 |
| 7 | Efren Vazquez |
FTR Honda | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | +1.391 |
| 8 |  Zulfahmi Khairuddin |
KTM | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | +1.457 |
| 9 |  Sandro Cortese |
KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +1.510 |
| 10 |  Jakub Kornfeil |
FTR Honda | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | +1.636 |
| 11 |  Danny Kent |
KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +1.748 |
| 12 | Alexis Masbou |
Honda | Caretta Technology | +1.899 |
| 13 |  Brad Binder |
Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +2.148 |
| 14 | Niccolo Antonelli |
FTR Honda | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | +2.313 |
| 15 | Alberto Moncayo |
Kalex KTM | Bankia Aspar Team | +2.322 |
| 16 |  Jack Miller |
Honda | Caretta Technology | +2.479 |
| 17 | Alessandro Tonucci |
FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | +2.486 |
| 18 | Danny Webb |
Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +2.634 |
| 19 | Hector Faubel |
Kalex KTM | Bankia Aspar Team | +2.762 |
| 20 |  Niklas Ajo |
KTM | TT Motion Events Racing | +3.023 |
| 21 | Alan Techer |
TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +3.087 |
| 22 | Arthur Sissis |
KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +3.134 |
| 23 | Isaac Viñales |
FTR Honda | Ongetta-Centro Seta | +3.383 |
| 24 | Ivan Moreno |
FTR Honda | AndalucÃa JHK Laglisse | +3.412 |
| 25 | Adrian Martin |
FTR Honda | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | +3.460 |
| 26 | Jonas Folger |
Ioda | IodaRacing Project | +3.612 |
| 27 | Kevin Hanus (WC) |
Honda | Thomas Sabo GP Team | +4.281 |
| 28 | Toni Finsterbusch |
MZ-RE FTR | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | +4.294 |
| 29 | Simone Grotzkyj |
Oral | Ambrogio Next Racing | +4.406 |
| 30 |  Jasper Iwema |
FGR Honda | Moto FGR | +4.419 |
| 31 |  Kenta Fujii |
TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +4.497 |
| 32 |  Giulian Pedone |
Oral | Ambrogio Next Racing | +5.630 |
| 33 | Luigi Morciano |
Ioda | Ioda Team Italia | +6.035 |
| 34 | Marcel Schrotter |
Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +6.272 |
