Jorge Martín starts leading in Le Mans, with Acosta 2nd and Marc Márquez 9th

Jorge Martín (Pramac Ducati) started dominating the French Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
09 May 2024 Thursday 16:38
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Jorge Martín starts leading in Le Mans, with Acosta 2nd and Marc Márquez 9th

Jorge Martín (Pramac Ducati) started dominating the French Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship. The Madrid rider achieved the best time in the first free practice sessions, ahead of Pedro Acosta and Maverick Viñales.

The rider from San Sebastián de los Reyes moved into first position on the time table at the end of the session by installing new soft tires on his Ducati. So he snatched the possibility of being the fastest of the morning from Pedro Acosta from Murcia.

The preparatory session did not have an absolute dominator. There were several drivers - almost half of the grid - who alternated at the top of the time table, from Àlex Márquez at the start to Martín on the last lap. Although those who were most in front were Marc Márquez (15 minutes) and Enea Bastianini (9 minutes) during the training hour.

The training session had one of its most spectacular images in the brutal save starring Pedro Acosta. The Gas Gas rookie avoided the fall by supporting himself with his right elbow when he was inclined at 59º and was rolling in a slow curve at about 106 km / h.

Acosta, who did not have a very brilliant Spanish Grand Prix with a crash in the warm-up prior to the race, was dominating free practice session 1 for the last three minutes, before Jorge Martín removed him from first place.

The return to the top of the classification of the two Aprilias, which disappeared in Jerez, stood out. Maverick Viñales was third and Aleix Espargaró, seventh. Marc Márquez closed in ninth position.