MotoGP rookie star Fabio Quartararo showed no signs of pressure as he rose to the occasion during his ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚhome 🎶premier-class debut at Le Mans on Friday.

On pole at the previous Jerez round, only to be denied a podium chance by a broken gearshifter, Quartararo picked up where he left off at the po🌞st-race test by putting his Petronas Yamaha at the top of F📖P1.

The pac🐬e increased in the afternoon but the 20-year-old responded by cutting a quarter of a second from his best lap for a close third place, 0.285s behind factory Yamaha's Maverick Vinales with Honda title leader Marc Marquez in between.

"Today was💛 really good," Quartararo smiled. "The pace was also good, we need to keep working on that for tomorrow but overall it's be𒅌en really positive. We made a fast lap time in the morning and also this afternoon.

"At first it was a bit difficult, because the braking reference in FP1 was somewhat tricky, but that was something that went a little 𓄧better in FP2. I'm happy oꦕverall.

"We worked on our pace today, and while we still have to improve things, I feel good on the bike and I'm satisfied. Tomorrow we will con🅠tinue working on what will be an important day, and we'll see what the weather is like.

"I think this track is good for the Yamaha; we saw Viñales go really fast today. I'm enjoyi๊ng my home GP; I dܫon't feel like I'm under pressure and I'm having fun with the fans."

Should the Saturday weather forecast prove ꦿcorrect, ꦫit will be another new experience for Quartararo:

"For sure it will be really difficult if it rains for qualifying because it will be my first tꦗime. We'll do our best."

While Quartararo is still using the older Yamaha wings, team-mate Franco Morbidelli now has th🍸e newer version used since the start of the year by Vinales.

The Italian finishe😼d the day in eleventh (+0.81ꩲ1s).

"In general, today has been a positive day. We felt comfortable with the medium tyre and I had a good feeling overall. When we tried 💟the soft tyre, the feeling wasn't what I expected and I started to skid out slightly with thﷺe front," Morbidelli said.

"We will try to understand what happened and improve it for tomorrow. We nee𝓀d to continue working on making improvements, but in general our pace is good."

Both riders also sentꦜ their condolences to the family of the marshal who died of a heart attack at the track this morning.

"It has be𒁏en very sad news for everybody," Quartararo said.

"Marshals always do a very important task during each Gr💦and Prix and riders and teams must always thank them for their hard work," added Morbide🐬lli.