There were encouraging signs for Cal Crutchlow as free practice for the French Grand Prix got underway at a sodden Le Mans on Friday. While rain and a damp track made life difficult for the premier class, the LCR Honda CASTROL rider equipped himself well in both sessions and finished the day fifth in the overall standings.
With heavy rain falling in FP1, wet tyres were the order of the day and Crutchlow performed well to push into the top 10 in ninth spot. The afternoon session took place on a drying track with riders able to post much quicker times and Crutchlow was top of the pile with just five minutes remaining. Having initially finished seventh, the Briton was later promoted to fifth and is well-placed ahead of a crucial FP3 on Saturday morning.
Cal Crutchlow – 5th (1’35.141)
“It was good to be able to get out on the track at Le Mans today. With one session being wet and one session being dry, we have now have a feeling for both. Obviously the second session had some damp patches, but I believe we did a good job in both sessions with my team. I found not a bad feeling with the bike, I think we need to improve the setting, but we can look at that tonight. We’re looking for some dry days now on the Saturday and Sunday.”
Results FP2:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’34.356 |
| 2 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’34.500 |
| 3 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’34.857 |
| 4 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’35.054 |
| 5 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’35.141 |
| 6 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’35.337 |
| 7 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’35.369 |
| 8 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’35.374 |
| 9 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’35.385 |
| 10 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’35.408 |
| 11 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’35.489 |
| 12 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’35.767 |
| 13 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’35.837 |
| 14 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’35.838 |
| 15 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’36.012 |
| 16 | Iker LECUONA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’36.190 |
| 17 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’36.478 |
| 18 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’36.982 |
| 19 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’38.726 |
| 20 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’39.361 |
| 21 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’40.165 |
| 22 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’40.425 |
Source: lcr.mc, motogp.com