Maverick Viñales has got the Pole Position for French GP three races after his last one. After an exciting Q1 and a tight fight for the Pole, Yamaha has dominated the session with Rossi and Zarco completing the front row.
The most interesting Q1 of the year (because of the amount of competitive riders participating) began with Álvaro Bautista being the first rider on track. Once everyone had completed a lap, Bautista was leading with a 1:33.022, followed by Johann Zarco. The French rider set on his next lap a 1:32.687 that put him on the lead. Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso set also a 1:32 lap.
With less than five minutes until the end, Zarco improved his own time with a 1:32.569. Pedrosa improved to seconds 0.044. They kept improving on their next lap and Pedrosa was finally able to take the lead. On his last lap, Dovizioso improved to first place with a 1:32.298. Pedrosa was unable to improve and was beaten by Zarco. With that, Dovizioso and Zarco advanced to Q2, with Pedrosa starting 13th.
Already in Q2, riders started calmly and set no competitive times until Maverick Viñales did a 1:33.134. After a slow first lap, crashed in turn 2. The first rider to do a 1:32 lap was Cal Crutchlow. The Brit improved himself with a 1:32.414. Márquez improved to second place, but it lasted short after Valentino Rossi took his place.
There were only 5 minutes until the end and riders were going on the track for their final laps. Zarco improved to second place and, on his next lap, improved his time again. Viñales moved up to first place and Rossi, who was coming to move into the lead but got stuck behind Jack Miller, improved to second. The Australian rider and Scott Redding crashed a few moments later. Viñales improved again with a 1:31.994. Rossi and Crutchlow improved their times but didn’t manage to beat Viñales. On the final seconds, Zarco improved to third and Crutchlow was moved out from front row.
The session finished like that and Viñales took Pole, Rossi finished on a solid second place with Zarco completing a front row for Yamaha. Crutchlow, Márquez and Dovizioso were the riders on second row. The race will start tomorrow at 14:00 local time.
