MotoGP Le Mans: Zarco tops record-breaking FP3

The records kept coming as MotoGP practice continued at Le Mans with Frenchman Johann Zarco topping the times in FP3.

The entirety of the top ten were under the previous circuit record as the 45-minute session concluded on Saturday morning. The Pramac rider’s stunning 1’30.537 bettering Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo in the dying seconds.

Ducati Lenovo’s Jack Miller took charge as Saturday morning’s action began before the home hero and reigning champion arrived on the Yamaha M1. Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez joining the leading trio as the session fired up with Bagnaia advancing on his teammate after ten minutes on track.

LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami and Pramac’s Jorge Martin took turns at the top as the pace increased with the pair on the bubble of promotion overall, 1’31.798 the morning’s best after seven attempts with Enea Bastianini’s record-breaking 1’31.148 still over six-tenths clear.

Pol Espargaro suffered the first crash of the morning on the Repsol RC213V, at turn seven, while running eighth in the session and ninth overall as Quartararo returned to the lead.

The second half found Nakagami striving for the top with a 1’31.471, and finding fourth in the combined times before the time was deleted due to track limits in the final sector. Mooney VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi circulating in the session’s top four with 20 minutes on the clock.

Maverick Viñales was the next to push as the Aprilia looked to improve from his 16th position. Fourth in the session was the score thanks to a 1’31.855, with the time still short of promotion before he put his head down and tried again. His teammate, however, was also on the move as he claimed second with an identical time to the reigning champion.

Bastia