Jonathan Rea dominated the opening practice of the ninth round of the WorldSBK championship in Magny-Cours following a lengthy summer break.
The weekend’s first session at Magny-Cours saw a few familiar faces ascend to the top. The riders who are back in action after their summer break are once more in pursuit of their campaigns as usual after a week of upheaval in the rider market.
Jonathan Rea, who is headed for Yamaha, pushed his Kawasaki to the top slot in the opening session of the weekend. However, after a couple time attacks later in the race, the British rider barely managed to hold onto the lead.
Garrett Gerloff surprised everyone by finishing second in Free Practice 1 after making his way into the top two on his BMW through a time attack in the final moments of the session.
At the conclusion of Free Practice One, the Pata Yamaha’s two riders placed third and fourth. In the session, Toprak Razgatlioglu narrowly edged off his Italian teammate for third place and enjoyed a solid start to his weekend. Andrea Locatelli came in fourth after an impressive performance.
Meanwhile, Alex Lowes could not keep up with his teammates’ pace, finishing in fifth place and 0.4 seconds behind Rea.
Alvaro Bautista and Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who were both running the Aruba.it Racing – Ducatis, finished the first practice in sixth and seventh, respectively.
Scott Redding marked the second BMW rider to finish in the top ten as he placed eighth at the end of the session despite rumors about his future in 2024.
Axel Bassani forced a premature end to Free Practice 1 after crashing in the closing moments of the practice prompting a Red Flag. However, the young Italian rider got back up and proceeded to finish ninth on the timesheets.
Danilo Petrucci encountered a problem at the start of the practice session, but he was able to make it back to the track at the end of the session and record a lap time that landed him in tenth place.
2023 French WorldSBK Magny-Cours FP1 Results
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Motorcycle | Lap Time |
| 1 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 36.900 |
| 2 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Bonovo Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 37.057 |
| 3 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Crescent Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 37.060 |
| 4 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Crescent Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 37.142 |
| 5 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 37.331 |
| 6 | Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Aruba Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 37.467 |
| 7 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 37.477 |
| 8 | Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 37.635 |
| 9 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 37.662 |
| 10 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Barni Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 37.744 |
| 11 | Michael van der Mark | NED | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 37.878 |
| 12 | Xavi Vierge | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 38.068 |
| 13 | Philipp Oettl | GER | Go Eleven | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 38.114 |
| 14 | Dominique Aegerter | SUI | GYTR GRT | Yamaha R1 | 1m 38.128 |
| 15 | Iker Lecuona | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 38.218 |
| 16 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | GMT 94 | Yamaha R1 | 1m 38.283 |
| 17 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 38.286 |
| 18 | Remy Gardner | AUS | GYTR GRT | Yamaha R1 | 1m 38.316 |
| 19 | Bradley Ray | GBR | Motoxracing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 38.364 |
| 20 | Isaac Vinales | ESP | TPR by Vinales Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 39.026 |
| 21 | Lucas Mahias | FRA | Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 39.713 |
| 22 | Hannes Soomer | EST | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 40.029 |
| 23 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 40.471 |
| Hafizh Syahrin | MAL | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | No Time Set | |
