After another improvement in qualifying for the Grand Prix de France, a strange crash was costly in what should have been a good race for Jonas Folger in the sprint on Saturday afternoon.
Jonas Folger and his GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team were looking forward to a Super Saturday in front of the enthusiastic French fans with qualifying sessions in the morning and the sprint in the afternoon. At the time of qualifying, the weather was still a bit cloudy after a brief rain shower in the morning, but the longer the day went on, the more the sun prevailed. For the sprint over 13 laps at 15:00 local time the conditions were at its best.
On day two at the historic Circuit Bugatti in Le Mans, Jonas Folger continued to give his all aboard the KTM RC16. He was faster in his time attack than in the previous practice sessions and finished 21st on the grid with a competitive 1´33.605 in the highly profiled MotoGP™ grid. In the sprint Folger got off to a good start and also quickly found a good rhythm. However, on the 8th lap he lost the front in turn 7 and crashed out of the race but remained uninjured. On Sunday in the main race of the weekend, the 29-year-old MotoGP rider will try to make up for today’s mishap.
#94 Jonas FOLGER (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3, KTM RC16)
Grid position: 21st / Sprint: NC
“The sprint was pretty good until the crash. I tried to implement the things I wanted to change during the weekend, so I worked on my rhythm. After a few laps I had a good feeling, the pace was ok, but unfortunately, I crashed in turn 7. I did not feel like I was on the limit, so it was a strange crash. It is a shame for today because we had a good race, but I am looking forward to tomorrow and I will try to do better.”
#FrenchGP - MotoGP™ Qualifying Results:
1 Francesco BAGNAIA / ITA / Ducati Lenovo Team / Ducati / 1´30.705
2 Marc MARQUEZ / SPA / Repsol Honda Team / Honda / 1´30.763 +0.058
3 Luca MARINI / ITA / Mooney VR46 Racing Team / Ducati / 1´30.842 +0.137
21 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 / KTM / 1´33.605 (Q1)
#FrenchGP - MotoGP™ Sprint (13 Laps):
1 Jorge MARTIN / SPA / Prima Pramac Racing / Ducati / 19´59.037
2 Brad BINDER / RSA / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / KTM / +1.840
3 Francesco BAGNAIA / ITA / Ducati Lenovo Team / Ducati / +2.632
NC #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 / KTM
MotoGP™ World Standing:
1 Francesco BAGNAIA / ITA / Ducati / 94
2 Brad BINDER / RSA / KTM / 71
3 Marco BEZZECCHI / ITA / Ducati / 68
22 #94 Jonas FOLGER / GER / KTM / 4
#FrenchGP - MotoGP™ Time Schedule for Sunday May 14th (CEST):
09:45 - 09:55 Warm Up
14:00 Race (27 Laps - 112.995 km)
