The Petronas Yamaha man took advantage of home turf advantage at Le Mans to finish the first free practice session top of the timesheets.
The rising star of the premier class muscled his way past the Ducati duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci whilst fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales finished up fourth.
Marc Marquez was the quickest Honda with fifth fastest whilst Valentino Rossi could only find the tenth fastest time. Cal Crutchlow, suffering intense pain with his still shattered ankle (the legacy of a monumental crash last year, the joint has 17 breaks in it and over a kilo of metal holding it together), was the second quickest Honda when he bagged 11th fastest at the end of the session, just 0.071s behind Rossi.
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