Jack Miller topped a wet and tricky opening MotoGP practice session in France, while Alex Marquez and Maverick Vinales suffered late crashes.
Race winner last time out Jack Miller continued his great form by topping a wet first MotoGP practice session at Le Mans ahead of fellow Ducati rider Johann Zarco.
The wet and low grip conditions are ones we’ve seen Miller excel in many a time before and FP1 was no different as he led much of the session.
The Australian was fastest from the outset and was unmoved until 17 minutes gone when Miguel Oliveria took over at the front.
While the track was initially wet, conditions did start to improve and it was Miller who timed it to perfection as he was the only rider to head out on slicks and go faster before rain fell again.
That was unfortunately not the case for Alex Marquez who fell at turn two on slick tyres, while Marc Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami were others who ventured out but returned to pit lane without improving.
Like Miller, fellow Ducati rider Zarco was one of the other riders to spend much of the session towards the top as he eventually finished +1.481s down.
Third was Joan Mir who encountered early issues on his Suzuki GSX-RR at turn eight (Garage Vert), when the bike cut out on him.
Mir was over two seconds down on Miller, however, the Spaniard was able to keep third place ahead of Repsol Honda riders Pol Espargaro in fourth and Marc Marquez in fifth.
In sixth was an Aprilia but not the one we’ve become accustomed to seeing inside the top ten, as Lorenzo Savadori took his best finish in an Official MotoGP session.
Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia was seventh fastest for the Lenovo Ducati team, while Oliveira, Alex Rins and Aleix Espargaro rounded out the top ten.
The other faller from the session was Maverick Vinales who fell in bizarre fashion as he exited pit lane. The Qatar race one winner lost the front at turn 3 when tipping into the right hander at the chicane.
