Defending Le Mans winner Maverick Vinales felt helpless to prevent himself slipping from first to eighth on the Saturday MotoGP timesheets. Air and track temperatures were 13 and 22 degrees respectively when the Movistar Yamaha topped the morning FP3 session.
Danilo Petrucci says his aim had only been the second row after having to go into Q1 during qualifying for the French round as he looks to profit from his front row start at Le Mans.
Marc Marquez says a combination of better grip and aggressive riding is causing the high number of crashes across all three classes at Le Mans having endured his own off during the final practice session.
Johann Zarco says his record pole position at his home round came as a surprise while being washed over by emotion as he turns attention to a potential maiden MotoGP win.
Cal Crutchlow is undergoing checks at the Le Mans Medical Centre after a huge highside at the French MotoGP. The LCR rider was thrown over the top of this RCV in the closing stages of Qualifying 1, landing heavily on his hip.
Suzuki MotoGP team manager Davide Brivio has confirmed that Suzuki could sign a 'young rider' in 2019, amid rumours that Moto2 rookie Joan Mir is in contention for a GSX-RR ride.
Vinales leads FP3 at Le Mans with a new circuit lap record. Marquez splits the factory Yamahas despite riding with a wing missing from the side of his Repsol Honda, having remounted after a fall.
Maverick Vinales put Yamaha on top of the timesheets with a new Le Mans lap record of 1m 31.619s during Saturday morning's FP3 session. At one stage M1 riders were filling the top three places courtesy of Vinales, Valentino Rossi and Monster Yamaha Tech3's Johann Zarco.
Valentino Rossi arrived at the French MotoGP after a miserable weekend in Jerez, tenth place in the post-race test and then a 'quite slow' private test at Mugello.
The Repsol Honda duo of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa each debuted a new (Yamaha style) aerodynamic fairing on their Repsol Hondas during Friday practice at Le Mans.
The completion of Andrea Dovizioso's new Ducati deal means the factory will now turn its attention to filling the remaining free places in its 2019 MotoGP line-up.
Jorge Lorenzo has backed Ducati’s 2018 modified frame having verified performance gains during Friday practice at Le Mans from the recent private Mugello test.