Jack Miller demonstrated his skill in mixed conditions once again by topping the timesheets on Friday ahead of the French Grand Prix at Le Mans. The Australian put in a late burst on slick tyres in the closing minutes of FP1 to set the fastest time of the day, over a second clear of reigning champion Marc Marquez and home favourite Johann Zarco.
The weather dominated much of the day with the Bugatti circuit left sodden by overnight rain and it wasn’t until the final fifteen minutes of first practice that anybody braved it on slick tyres. By this point, Pol Espargaro had already tumbled at Garage Vert but once the dry rubber had been fitted, it was the lap times that started tumbling.
Miller was comfortably the class of the field in these conditions, consistently lowering his own benchmark time before closing on a 1:37.467, three seconds faster than anybody else at the time. Marquez ventured back out in the dying moments, eventually closing the gap to 1.288s, while Zarco delighted the home supporters with the third fastest time.
Cal Crutchlow was fourth ahead of Loris Baz and Karel Abraham while Bradley Smith leapt up to seventh on the KTM after a late dash on slicks. The Movistar Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales also made the top ten along with Alvaro Bautista but with lap times several seconds off the pace in a rain-hit FP2, tomorrow morning’s session is likely to set the field for Q1.
2017 HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France: Friday Practice
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