Norrodin tops damp opening practice from Le Mans
Malaysian rider Adam Norrodin utilised his prowess in damp conditions to end opening practice at Le Mans top of the pile on his SIC Racing Honda.
Overnight rain left the 4.2km French circuit damp by the time FP1 got underway, and perhaps unsurprisingly it was British Talent Team’s John McPhee who led the way in the early stages of the session.
Still topping the timesheets as the final few minutes ticked down, McPhee’s session was brought to an early end at Turn 3 when he slid into the gravel. Unharmed in the incident, a flurry of activity in the final minutes saw the Scotsman shuffled back to 14th.
A number of riders all held top spot briefly at the end of their final laps, but it was Norrodin who edged ahead with a 1m51.468s, which put him just 0.040s clear of Niccolo Antonelli and 0.044s ahead of Andrea Migno, who completed the top three.
Gabriel Rodrigo is still riding in some amount of discomfort, a legacy of his FP1 crash at Qatar at the start of the season. Despite this, the Argentinian shot up to fourth this morning ahead of CIP Mahindra’s Marco Bezzecchi and Sky VR46’s Nicolo Bulega.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta will have been handed a massive confidence boost by his seventh place in FP1 at Le Mans having endured a torrid time so far this season. Just behind him was Danny Kent, who makes his first race appearance since sensationally splitting with the Kiefer Racing Moto2 team at the Americas Grand Prix.
Temporary team-mate Bo Bendsneyder was ninth quickest on the second Red Bull KTM, with Jerez winner Aron Canet completing the top 10 from championship leader Joan Mir, Enea Bastianini and Tony Arbolino.