Isle of Man based MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow will start this afternoon's French Grand Prix with a psychological advantage.
In the morning warm-up the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider set the benchmark for what is expected to be a wet race this afternoon at the Le Mans circuit.
Crutchlow posted a time of 1.46.095, pushing current world champion Casey Stoner into second,just ahead of teamate Dani Pedrosa who starts the race from pole after a hectic qualifying session on Saturday.
Crutchlow starts from fifth.
The race gets underway at 2.00pm