Bradley Smith was a shock fastest in opening practice for the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, the Brit mastering the slippy conditions to head Avintia’s Johann Zarco.   FP1 saw the times reduce almost every lap due to a cocktail of improving conditions and ever accelerating rider confidence, though it looked like Ducati would have a stranglehold as its riders over the factory and Pramac satellite outfits consistently appeared to fire to the head of the timesheets. A rough seven second improvement was seen from the start of the session until Smith’s ultimate benchmark of 1:43.804, the Aprilia man giving the Italian manufacturer something to smile about following a tough debut season...
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