Luca Marini tops FP1 in Le Mans, Ducati and Aprilia falter

Updated: 12:18, 08 May

Andrew McLarney is a MotoGP reporter for GPBlog. With four years experience as a professional writer across the sports and video game industries, his experience as a K1 Premier League competitor evolved into a fascination with all forms of combat sport and eventually motorsport — with MotoGP becoming his primary focus. On top of that he is also an avid follower of MXGP and AMA Supercross as well as F1 and GT racing.

The first practice session of the French GP weekend has concluded with some rather surprising results. HRC Honda's Luca Marini topped the morning session while both Aprilia and Ducati were both well off the pace set by the Italian.

The session, which is likely to be one of the only dry runs of the weekend as heavy rain is anticipated for tomorrow and Sunday, saw Honda secure two of the top three spots with Marini and Zarco, while Pedro Acosta finished in P2.

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VR46's Fabio Di Giannantonio was the top Ducati in P4, but the factory pair of Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia finished in P9 and P18 respectively.

Similarly, Aprilia were not up the standard we have come to expect from them so far this year. Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi finished the session in P14 with Jorge Martin just 0.001 seconds behind.

It is quite possible that both Aprilia and Ducati were running experimental setups during the session, knowing that the conditions for most of the weekend are set to be very different. So perhaps the times are not respesentative of what we will see throughout the weekend, but so far it is already off to an unpredictable start.

Position	Rider (Team)	Time
1.	Luca Marini (Honda HRC)	1:30.857
2.	Pedro Acosta (KTM Factory Racing)	+0.208
3.	Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda)	+0.252
4.	Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46)	+0.268
5.	Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing)	+0.367
6.	Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha)	+0.445
7.	Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing)	+0.470
8.	Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Racing)	+0.503
9.	Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo)	+0.531
10.	Brad Binder (KTM Factory Racing)	+0.537
11.	Joan Mir (Honda HRC)	+0.539
12.	Enea Bastianini (KTM Tech3)	+0.591
13.	Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing)	+0.655
14.	Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing)	+0.675
15.	Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing)	+0.676
16.	Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha)	+0.729
17.	Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha)	+0.731
18.	Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo)	+0.809
19.	Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda)	+0.976
20.	Franco Morbidelli (VR46)	+1.035
21.	Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha)	+1.759
22.	Jones Folger (KTM Tech3)	+3.241

MotoGP 2026 French Grand Prix Full schedule: Where to watch, TV start times

The MotoGP Grand Prix of France is set to take place this weekend at the world-renowned Le Mans circuit and we should be in for another classic race as the battle heats up at the front between Aprilia and Ducati. Check out the full weekend schedule here.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	156
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	115
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	106
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	73
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	70
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	55
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	37
9	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	32
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	28
11	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	19
12	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
13	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	14
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
15	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
17	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Luca Marini tops FP1 in Le Mans, Ducati and Aprilia falter

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MotoGP 2026 French Grand Prix Full schedule: Where to watch, TV start times

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