Petrucci fastest in warm up, turn three catches Marquez, Espargaro and Mir out

Tech 3 KTM rider Danilo Petrucci topped a wet and slippery MotoGP warm up session ahead of this afternoon’s 22 lap race.

The Italian took over top spot from Miguel Oliveira with around three minutes of the session remaining and was unmoved as the checkered flag dropped. 

It was in similar conditions that Petrucci took victory at Le Mans last season for Ducati. 

Former Pramac team-mate Jack Miller was second fastest after spending most of the session on top. 

Third was the factory KTM machine of Oliveira who has looked strong in all weather at the Circuit de la Sarthe so far. 

After a difficult qualifying yesterday, championship leader Francesco Bagnaia had a better start to race day as he finished fourth quickest. 

The first non Ducati or KTM rider was current series champion Joan Mir for Suzuki, as he recovered from an early crash at turn three to claim fifth. 

Sixth was Johann Zarco who was the first rider to crash during the warm up session, as he went down at Garage Vert on his first flying lap.

Valentino Rossi confirmed his strong qualifying performance by finishing seventh quickest for Petronas Yamaha, while Iker Lecuona, Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales rounded out the top ten. 

Turn three has been somewhat of a crashfest over the weekend across all three classes, which remained the case as Mir was joined by both Repsol Honda’s of Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro in falling at the left-hand turn.