Bobryshev and Herlings top qualifying for French GP

Gajser remounted in dead last while Cairoli came around on lap two way back in tenth. On lap three, Paulin gave the fans something to lose their minds about when he went hot up the inside of Desalle for the lead and on the following lap Guillod moved into second with exactly the same move.

Just over halfway, Team HRC‰Ûªs Evgeny Bobryshev found his mojo, passed both Desalle and Guillod, and then started grinding away at the lead of his teammate Paulin. Meanwhile, the world champ, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing‰Ûªs Romain Febvre also found a way past Desalle and started adding to the hair-raising atmosphere when he exchanged plastic with Guillod, in a battle for third.

With no rider willing to relent, Guillod drove Febvre wide straight into a tough-block but Febvre just used it as a berm and charged right back. In an outright uphill drag, Febvre got a wheel ahead of Guillod and pulled across to secure the spot.

Back up front, Paulin had the crowd smiling as he looked to have his first qualifying heat win of the season in the palm of his hands. Unfortunately, in a dramatic turn of events, the Frenchman hit a slick spot at speed and had the bars ripped out of his hands causing a sickly crash which saw him ragdoll down the track. That was on the final lap, which meant the win was handed to his teammate, Bobryshev, who led Febvre home for his second qualifying heat victory of the year.

Guillod put in a season best qualifying result with third ahead of Desalle and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing‰Ûªs Max Nagl. Meanwhile Cairoli made a few more mistakes and only came home in eighth while Honda Gariboldi‰Ûªs Tim Gajser, who was the fastest rider in both practice sessions, only came home in thirteenth.