The weather played a leading role on the first day of the French GP. On the soaking wet Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, Piotr Biesiekirski crashed hard in only his second lap. A sore left shoulder kept the young Pole sidelined in the second session. Bo Bendsneyder was mainly looking for confidence in that practice, which he only found in the final phase. With 15 degrees Celsius in the rain, it was a chilly start to the French Grand Prix, which is usually mid-May. The fact that the circumstances are different in mid-October, was evident from the many crashes in all classes, also in in Moto2. Piotr Biesiekirski was one of them. In only his second lap at Le Mans, he fell in Turn 14, landing hard on his shoulder. The machine was quickly rebuilt by the mechanics of NTS RW Racing GP so that the Pole could continue, but as the session progressed he suffered more and more from his painful left shoulder. During a check-up in the medical center, the doctors declared him unfit for FP2. After the wet morning, the track slowly dried up in the second session, but there were still wet spots everywhere, especially in the corners. For Bo Bendsneyder it was important to build up confidence. The fact that Luca Marini made a nasty high-sider on a wet patch at the start of the second session, did not really help. Only towards the end of the practice did the Dutchman get into his rhythm a bit and could set a time of 1.39.776, which was good for 24th place.
Bo Bendsneyder: “In the rain this morning, the feeling was not good, so I took it easy to reduce the risk of a crash. In the afternoon the track was drying, but there were still many wet patches. The plan was to do as many laps as possible and to build up confidence. That worked only partially, because I had very little confidence on those wet spots. That improved in the end, the drier it got. The feeling with the bike is not bad at all, but the confidence was not enough to really open the throttle. If it is dry tomorrow and Sunday, as the forecast is, I trust we will be fine.”
Results FP2:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Jake DIXON | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’37.713 |
| 2 | Jorge MARTIN | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’37.762 |
| 3 | Marco BEZZECCHI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’38.017 |
| 4 | Sam LOWES | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’38.155 |
| 5 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’38.185 |
| 6 | Jorge NAVARRO | Termozeta Speed Up | 1’38.221 |
| 7 | Aron CANET | Inde Aspar Team Moto2 | 1’38.259 |
| 8 | Thomas LUTHI | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’38.274 |
| 9 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’38.341 |
| 10 | Xavi VIERGE | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’38.459 |
| 11 | Somkiat CHANTRA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’38.476 |
| 12 | Joe ROBERTS | Tennor American Racing | 1’38.509 |
| 13 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’38.712 |
| 14 | Enea BASTIANINI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’38.816 |
| 15 | Hector GARZO | Flexbox HP 40 | 1’38.843 |
| 16 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Flexbox HP 40 | 1’38.957 |
| 17 | Simone CORSI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’39.010 |
| 18 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Tennor American Racing | 1’39.020 |
| 19 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’39.022 |
| 20 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’39.076 |
| 21 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Inde Aspar Team Moto2 | 1’39.357 |
| 22 | Kasma DANIEL | Onexox TKKR SAG Team | 1’39.532 |
| 23 | Remy GARDNER | Onexox TKKR SAG Team | 1’39.570 |
| 24 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’39.776 |
| 25 | Nicolò BULEGA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’39.854 |
| 26 | Edgar PONS | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’40.969 |
| 27 | Andi Farid IZDIHAR | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’41.015 |
| 28 | Luca MARINI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’45.109 |
| 29 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Termozeta Speed Up | |
| 30 | Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI | NTS RW Racing GP |
SWource: rwracinggp.com, motogp.com
