The Repsol Honda Team riders made progress in the first two free practice sessions for the French Grand Prix, both contested on a dry track.
Marc Márquez was fifth in the first session of the day, and in the afternoon he improved his time by almost 6 tenths, finishing second and 0.190 off pacesetter Maverick Viñales.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda Team box, Jorge Lorenzo ended FP1 14th, although he suffered a crash at Turn 9.
The Spaniard took a step forward in the second session, closing the day in fourth position, 0.098 behind his teammate.
Marc Márquez:
“The feeling is great today and I’m very happy because we were able to work in a good way, like always. The only change we made was a new tyre at the end of FP2 where normally we use the same tyres. With the weather looking unstable tomorrow it was best to do this. Also today I made a big save in FP1, it was my second run and I was able to save it but it took me by surprise a little bit because it’s so bumpy. Another nice video for the collection! There are many fast people and with the changing weather we will maintain our focus.”
Jorge Lorenzo:
“Today didn’t start in the ideal way with the crash this morning. I was running with too much lean over the curbs and wasn’t able to save it. We came back stronger, in Free Practice 2 we made one change to the bike and I was able to feel much better on corner entry. It has helped a lot and we will keep trying different bits to become more and more confident. Conditions look like they could change tomorrow, but for today it was positive.”
