Results, notes and quotes from MotoGP Rnd 3 at Le Mans

Jorge Lorenzo stormed clear of Valentino Rossi to take his second win in a row in Le Mans this afternoon, making it three victories from three races for the Fiat Yamaha Team this year. Rossi overcame a few problems with both his bike and his shoulder to finish second, with Spaniard Andrea Dovizioso third.

Rossi started from pole and got a brilliant start to lead out of the first turn, in front of some 80,000 fans delighting in the balmy weather. Lorenzo has suffered lately when starting but recent work in testing paid off as the 23-year-old slipped just one place to third, before passing Pedrosa back soon after to retake second. The Italian and the two Spaniards soon stretched out a gap from the chasing pack and Lorenzo started to look menacing on his team-mate’s rear wheel, trying to pass a few times but failing as Rossi braked deeper and deeper.

It was not until lap twelve that the 23-year-old got by his team-mate and he quickly began to pull away, as the World Champion struggled to find enough grip on acceleration to stay with Lorenzo. The young Mallorcan eventually crossed the line 5.672 seconds ahead to take his first back-to-back wins in MotoGP and stand on top of the Le Mans podium for the second year running.

Lorenzo extends his championship lead to nine points from Rossi, whilst the Fiat Yamaha lead the Team standings and Yamaha the Constructors’. The next round comes at Rossi’s home fortress of Mugello, in two week’s time.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1stTime: 44’29.114
“I am so happy to win for the second race in a row, it’s the first time for me in MotoGP and it makes me feel very confident in myself. Finally I did a good start, which I’m really happy about, then I easily got past Pedrosa. Passing Valentino wasn’t so easy because he was braking so deep and I had to be very patient, something that I might not have managed one year ago! Finally I overtook him but I didn’t expect to be able to go away in that way, my bike and Bridgestone tyres just felt so good and it wasn’t difficult for me to keep this pace up. I have had a good time in Le Mans since I joined Yamaha; one second and two victories, so I think I can say I enjoy racing here in France! It is fantastic to be leading the championship but there is a long way to go and now we go to Mugello, a track that I love but where my rivals are very strong. Thank you to my team and everyone at Yamaha for this great weekend.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2ndTime: +5.672
“I got a very good start but I knew from the beginning that we lacked some pace compared to Lorenzo and we had some unexpected problems in the race, mainly to do with grip on exit and acceleration from the corners. I expected to be faster but it wasn’t the case today. I tried to stay in front of Lorenzo but it wasn’t possible and I couldn’t go with him once he was past, congratulations to him because he was very strong today! I can’t blame my shoulder, I had expected it to be a bigger problem but in fact it was okay until six or seven laps from the end and by then the race was over for me. I knew it was important to finish and take the 20 points, it’s a long championship and we are only nine points behind. Now I am looking forward to being back on top form for Mugello, my home race.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“A fantastic race and result, Jorge did very well to wait like this behind Valentino and then once he passed to go away in such a way, it was brave and showed how strong he was. He was very fast all weekend but as usual our tactics were to be on the podium, so this is a great bonus. I thought, coming here, that the pressure from leading the championship might worry him but this wasn’t the case at all, he just kept his head down and this win is a fantastic reward for such good work.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Valentino started very well once again in this race but then when Lorenzo arrived it was difficult to stay in front, his pace was faster today. Valentino’s bike was sliding a little bit too much and he lost some contact when Lorenzo was leading, and by then it was sensible to go for second. There’s only nine points between them and we are here and in touch in this exciting championship.”

Difficult home race for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was unable to show its true potential in front of a large home crowd at the iconic Le Mans circuit in France today.

In gloriously sunny conditions that saw air temperatures hit 32 degrees, Colin Edwards was engaged in an exciting mid-pack fight that included team-mate Ben Spies, Loris Capirossi and rookies Marco Simoncelli and Hector Barbera.

Despite not feeling 100 per cent comfortable with the race set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine, Edwards rode with dogged determination to hold a place in the top ten until lap 23.

Edwards continued to give his maximum effort but was unable to prevent dropping to 12th by the end, the American continuing his 100 per cent points-scoring record in 2010.

Today’s 28-lap race ended in disappointment for 25-year-old Spies. The reigning World Superbike was hampered by the damaged left foot he suffered in a big high-side crash during yesterday’s final practice session.

Spies quickly made up two places in the early stages but as his confidence grew and he stared to mount a surge towards the group battling for the top six, he suffered an unlucky crash out of 11th place on lap seven at the third corner.

After a tough home race, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is now looking forward to better fortunes when the 2010 campaign resumes in Mugello on June 6.

Colin Edwards – Position: 12thTime: +37.123
“I know this bike inside out and I’ve had some of the best races of my career at Le Mans, but right now I just can’t seem to fix some of the problems I’m having. I can only go fast if I’m able to ride comfortable and smooth and at the moment I can’t do that because I don’t have the confidence. I’m working really hard with my guys at Tech 3 but we don’t seem to be able to get on top of the problem at the moment. I spent a lot of the race behind Simoncelli and he was able to brake deeper than me. As soon as I’d brake and lean the bike over, I started to have a problem and right now I’m struggling to find an answer. It is annoying because I came here expecting a much better result but we’ll regroup and try and be much stronger at Mugello.”

Ben Spies – DNF
“It was a tough weekend and I made it tough for myself. Yesterday morning was my fault with the crash and missing a sessi on didn’t help. I need as much track time as I can get so to miss a whole hour isn’t good. I got a good start and after the first two laps I got into a decent rhythm. Capirossi and Colin started to come back to me a little bit and I was feeling quite confident. But I looked up and saw Capirossi lose the front at the third corner and as soon as I tipped in I lost the front too and I was down. It was a weird crash but luckily I didn’t pick up any further injury. Now I can take this week off and rest and go to Mugello to push at 100 per cent. It has been a rough last couple of races but I’m still confident I can be closer to the front when things are right and be doing a lot better.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It is a strong word but this has been a disaster for us because we were expecting a lot. After Friday when we saw Ben learn the track even quicker than he did in Jerez we were very positive about his prospects and we know that Le Mans is one of Colin’s best tracks. It is obvious that Ben was struggling a little bit with his foot and unfortunately he crashed in the race and I am sorry for him because he was determined to try and get in the top ten. Colin got a decent and he just never looked like the rider at this track that we know he can be. We’ll analyse a lot of data to understand why we struggled and be as determined as ever to be back where we belong in Mugello. I’d like to congratulate Yamaha because once again they did a fantastic job and now we must improve to show our true potential with what is obviously an incredibly competitive YZR-M1 machine.”

—  Ducati Report

Nicky Hayden produced another valiant challenge for a podium position in the Grand Prix de France at Le Mans this afternoon, finishing fourth in a race that saw his Ducati Marlboro team-mate Casey Stoner suffer the misfortune of a crash while trying to close the gap to the front three.

It was an early and disappointing end to a tough weekend for the Australian, who lost the front end of his Desmosedici on the third lap. However, there was still plenty of excitement for the Ducatisti amongst a 82,000 crowd to enjoy as Hayden took the fight to the frontrunners, passing Dani Pedrosa to take fourth place on the final lap, crossing the line just 1.5 seconds behind Andrea Dovizioso in third. The race was won by Jorge Lorenzo ahead of Valentino Rossi.

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 4th
“I’m about as happy with fourth as you could wish to be because I’ve struggled this weekend and once the race got started I went backwards pretty quickly. I just dug in and started going a little faster. I was pushing so hard to try and get those guys and finish on the podium but I couldn’t get close enough. As we say in America ‘close only counts in horseshoes and washers’ but I know I couldn’t have ridden any harder today and the team did a great job, so my heartfelt thanks go to them. Fourth place is okay here but it won’t be good enough at Mugello so we have more work to do there. I feel sorry for Casey today and his side of the garage because I see how hard they work, he is an unbelievably fast rider and he’ll be feeling disappointed right now, but you can be sure he will bounce back, he is very strong. It’s a long season so hopefully we can both have something to smile about next time.”

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) DNF
“I’m really disappointed because the bike has felt great all weekend, I’ve been pushing the front wherever I wanted but for some reason when the race has come around it felt like it was going to fold. It’s something we have to get to the bottom of and we need to do it soon because it is not good to start the season with only one finish from three races. I haven’t changed anything with my riding style but if I need to do something then we have to work out what and I can do it. Maybe it’s because when I’m behind slower riders in the race I’m not able to put the same pressure on the front. I’m not sure at the moment, to be honest, so we need to sit down and work out what’s best for the next race.”

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager
“I’m really disappointed for Casey and for the team because this is obviously a big letdown for all of us. Today we had the possibility of having a good race, as we saw with Nicky, but it didn’t turn out that way for Casey, who crashed when he was trying to make up ground on the top three. He lost the front and now we’re all working together to try and work out why. I know that Casey will bounce back in the next race, ready to give it all as always and we’ll be working hard to allow him to show his huge talent. Nicky was great again today and that kind of result is not a surprise anymore. He had a few problems in practice but he showed great character in the race to score the best result of his career at this track.”

—  HRC Report

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) won a thrilling last-lap battle for third place with team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) at sun-soaked Le Mans this afternoon. Dovizioso’s attack won him his second podium finish of the year while Pedrosa crossed the line in fifth behind Nicky Hayden (Ducati) after running wide four corners from the chequered flag. The race was won by points leader Jorge Lorenzo ahead of Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi.

Pedrosa had had the best of qualifying, taking the last spot on the front row of the grid, while Dovizioso had to be happy with seventh place, just one tenth off the second row.

In the race Pedrosa held third place from the first lap to the penultimate lap, Dovizioso diving past him as they funnelled into Le Mans’
first chicane for the 28th and final time. Pedrosa did everything he could to counter attack, but ran wide at Le Musee and again at Les Esses Bleu, which allowed Hayden to sneak through. Dovizioso’s late-race pace was super impressive, gradually closing the advantage that Pedrosa had held in the earlier stages of the race. Last year the opposite happened between the team-mates at Le Mans – Pedrosa overtaking Dovizioso on the final lap!

Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) scored his best result of the year so far with an impressive if lonely ride to sixth place, seven seconds ahead of Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) who ran off the track in the late stages. Melandri made a crucial set-up change during morning warm-up which improved his race pace.

Rookies Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) played their part in an enthralling five-way skirmish for eighth place which lasted for much of the race. Positions changed regularly, Simoncelli at the front of the group for much of the time until he lost two places in the last two laps to finish tenth. The former 250 World Champion wasn’t happy with that, but nevertheless it was his best MotoGP result thus far.

Aoyama had his work cut out after he decided to change his front tyre following the warm-up lap because the tyre he had fitted for the race didn’t feel right. That meant he had to take it easy during the first few laps while he scrubbed in the new tyre. In the thick of the battle for eighth place, Aoyama made a mistake braking for the Chemin aux Boeufs chicane with five laps remaining, which forced him to take to the slip-road, dropping him to the back of the group. Of course, the Japanese never gave up and he managed to pass Colin Edwards (Yamaha) with two laps remaining to secure 11th place.

Next stop on the MotoGP calendar is Mugello for the Italian GP on June 4/5/6; then the World Championship hits top gear with three races on consecutive weekends: the British GP (June 20), the Dutch TT (June 26) and Catalunya (July 4).

MOTO2

Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) won an incident-packed Moto2 race to move into the lead of the new Honda-powered World Championship. Two weeks after winning a battle royal at Jerez, the Spaniard had a mostly untroubled run to victory at Le Mans, chased all the way by reigning 125 World Champion Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) who never quite got close enough to mount an attack on his compatriot.

Elias crossed the finish line 1.336 seconds ahead of Simon, who was having his first race aboard a Suter-framed bike. Simone Corsi (Jir Moto2,
Motobi) won a race-long duel for third place with Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up).
Iannone’s team-mate and former 125 World Champion Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) held onto fifth place, with three riders right behind him in the final laps: Sergio Gadea (Pons Racing, Kalex), Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT Singa SAG, Bimota) and Fonsi Nieto (Holiday Gym G22, Moriwaki).

Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing, Suter) won a similarly hectic five-man contest for ninth place. Front-row qualifier Alex Debon (Aeroport de Castello-Ajo, FTR) led the early stages but received a ride-through penalty for jumping the start and could only finish 16th, one place outside the points.

There were plenty of incidents during the 26 laps, with 13 riders falling. Local hero Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing, Suter) crashed at the high-speed first turn just moments after snatching the lead from Elias on lap six. Other significant non-finishers were Qatar winner and former points leader Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP, Suter), Le Mans pole-sitter Kenny Noyes (Jack & Jones by A.Banderas, PromoHarris) and second fastest qualifier Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing, Tech 3).

HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 3rd
“I’m so happy to have made the podium here. It was very important because I wanted to confirm that the result in Qatar was not a one-off. We have improved a lot during the winter, so this is another important step forward. I wanted a good result for the team, to thank them and also because of last year when Dani came from 10 seconds behind to overtake me on the very last lap. Also, I’m very pleased to be going to Mugello third in the championship. It was a tough race. At the beginning I took a lot of risks to recover from starting on the third row. I made up some places and then I was able to match the leaders’ pace in the early stages. Once I caught Dani it was hard to get past and I knew Nicky was very close behind so I had to find a way by. Dani has really good acceleration so it was difficult to make the overtake. I waited for four laps, worked out my strategy and I made my move on the last lap at the corner I’d planned. This is a good start to the season, we worked a lot during the winter and Honda keeps working hard. We are close to the leaders – though still not close enough because our target is to fight for wins. We’ll go to Mugello with a lot of confidence as this a special race for me.”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 5th.
“Well, of course I’m not satisfied to have finished in this way because we were able to stay near the leaders for the first part of the race and then dropped back. Losing two places on the final lap is not a good feeling. My start was okay and I could stay near the front in the first laps but later in the race I was making a lot of mistakes trying to maintain my pace. I had a bit of a rear brake issue which meant I couldn’t get the bike into the turns as I wanted and I was fighting the bike a bit. Andrea rode well and pushed very hard at the end, so congratulations to him on the podium finish. It’s an important part of the season coming up with many races in a short time, so we must work hard and do better in Mugello.”

Marco Melandri, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 6th.
“I was pretty sure we’d have a better pace today than we did in practice and that proved to be the case. We made a small change in the warm-up based on an idea that the team came up with and it worked well. Unfortunately it was quite windy today and I struggled in a few corners where we didn’t have a perfect setting for the engine braking. I’m happy though because we were able to match the speed of the front guys at the start until I made a small mistake when Hayden stepped up the pace. I tried to catch him again but I couldn’t do it and decided that was a good time to ‘pull the oars in’ and bring home an important result after such a tough start to the year. It was a good race for us and I’m happy for myself and the team.”

Randy de Puniet, LCR Honda: 7th.
“It was a special and tough GP for me because I wanted to get a good result especially for my fans. This is my best result on this track in the premier class but I am a bit disappointed. I got a bad start and dropped from the second row to the back of the group but after that I set good lap times catching the 8th place. After Stoner’s crash I was 7th but could not close any further because my front tyre started to slip and almost crashed 10 times. So I had to slow down but seventh is not so bad. I am still 6th in the world standing and we are the best private team at the moment.”

Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini:10th.
“I gave my maximum and wasn’t too far off today but it was a tough race because I was struggling more with the bike than yesterday. I’m a little disappointed that I allowed Barbera and Espargaro to pass me in the last couple of laps because it would have been nice to finish eighth but it didn’t happen. It is important at this stage for me to finish races and I managed that today even though I wasn’t as fast as I’d hoped so that’s a positive thing. Now we’ll assess things and try to do better at Mugello. ”

Hiroshi Aoyama, Interwetten Honda MotoGP: 11th.
“We found a much better set-up today and I was able to stay with the other riders. We were competitive today and I think we grew up. I think we can take a lot with us after this race and I hope we can keep improving. Of course I am not really happy with the result as I lost two positions because of a small mistake I did. I could have been further in front. I was able to attack the eighth position, but I think that this target was too big and I had to step back again not to risk anything. I think we gave our best here and I will try that again in the next race.”

—  Suzuki Report

Rizla Suzuki ended the French Grand Prix with nothing to show for its hard work after Loris Capirossi crashed out of today’s race, adding to the disappointment of Álvaro Bautista’s withdrawal yesterday.

Capirossi started from ninth on the grid and made a steady start to the race, before finding his rhythm and starting to track down the group in front of him. He passed Colin Edwards on lap six and began to open a gap on the American, before disaster struck on the next lap and Capirossi crashed in turn three. He was able to re-mount his Suzuki GSV-R, but was unable to get the motor running again and was forced to retire. Capirossi was at odds to explain what caused the crash – similar to the one last time out in Jerez – and was very disappointed after such a positive weekend’s work to leave Le Mans pointless.

Capirossi was the only Rizla Suzuki racer today following Bautista’s early departure yesterday after a crash in free practice which aggravated his injured shoulder and caused him to return to Spain for further treatment, as well as rest and recuperation.

Today’s race was watched by 82,270 fans at trackside, who all baked in glorious French sunshine as temperatures rose above 30ºC. Jorge Lorenzo took a comprehensive victory to strengthen his lead at the top of the World Championship.

Rizla Suzuki will now travel to Mugello in Italy for round four of the MotoGP World Championship on Sunday 6th June, with the team looking to bounce back from this weekend.

Loris Capirossi:
“It has again been an unlucky end to a weekend for us! It was the best we had felt at a Grand Prix this year and we had worked very hard in practice to fix everything and we made some good, positive steps. In the race I started steadily because the grip was not too good. After a couple of laps I felt a bit better and increased my rhythm and got past Colin, but in turn three I crashed. I leaned in and just lost the front, I don’t know why it happened and this is the third time I’ve crashed on the front and we will have to discover what’s causing it. During the weekend the feeling has been good and in warm-up I didn’t have any problems, but then in the race we struggled and I crashed. I am so sorry for the whole team because they all worked so hard. I am really, really upset because I feel in such good condition and we need to be getting some good results, this is no way to end the weekend, but we now must go to Mugello and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

—  Bridgestone Report

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Soft, Medium (asymmetric – Med. only)

Race day in France brought the highest ambient and track temperatures seen all weekend. The frontrunners used Bridgestone’s harder option front and asymmetric rear slicks, and it was Jorge Lorenzo of the Fiat Yamaha Team who took victory, ahead of teammate Valentino Rossi and Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso.

As the track temperature rose to a scorching 48 degrees Celsius, almost unheard of at the French circuit, laptimes were slightly affected but both specifications of Bridgestone slicks proved their durability and consistent performance. Whilst the top eight riders set a consistent pace on Bridgestone’s harder option fronts and rears, ninth-placed Aleix Espargaro of Pramac Racing used the soft compound rear tyre to record his highest MotoGP finish. Even with the high track temperature, the soft compound rear slick proved sufficiently durable to perform well throughout the 28 laps, and Espargaro’s final lap was only 0.3seconds slower than his best effort in the race which came on lap 13.

Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department
“Congratulations to Jorge Lorenzo for not only this victory but his first consecutive pair of wins in MotoGP. The conditions today were very difficult, much more so than could be expected of Le Mans, both for riders and our tyres so this is a great achievement. We saw some good battles between Andrea, Nicky and Dani, and also in the midfield. I’d like to congratulate Hector Barbera and the Aspar team for his highest MotoGP finish in eighth as top rookie.”

Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“The conditions all weekend have been very challenging, and the temperature during the race was at its highest but I am pleased with the durability and consistency of both slick tyre options. The high temperature did not help laptimes and overall race time but I am pleased that consistency was good. Nicky’s fastest lap came on lap 20 of 28 which shows good durability over race distance. Clearly our harder slick tyre options were favoured by most riders today, for the added durability of the asymmetric rear tyre, but it is encouraging to see that Aleix was able to make the soft rear work well despite the high temperature.”

Jorge Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha Team – Race Winner
“Today it was tricky to find the limit between being fast without doing too much but my bike and Bridgestone tyres just felt so good and it wasn’t difficult for me to keep this pace up . I made a good start and didn’t lose too much time in the first two laps but it was difficult to pass Valentino. I was patient and just waited for my moment. If this happened a few years ago maybe I would have been more crazy, but maybe this is something I’ve changed. I have a very good feeling now and am much more confident this year.”

Toni Elías opened up an 18-point lead at the top of the Moto2 World Championship standings with his second win of the season. The Spanish rider led a podium completed by Julián Simón and Simone Corsi, in a race that was extremely eventful in its opening stages.

Elías made a rapid start from seventh on the grid and took the early lead, but Alex Debón was soon in front. However, the Valencian rider was penalised for a jump-start and had to take a ride through penalty as he lost first position. Yuki Takahashi crashed out from fourth, and pole position man Kenny Noyes suffered the same disappointment.

At the head of the race Elías, Jules Cluzel and Simón established a break, but disaster struck from the Frenchman Cluzel when he lost the front of his bike. Championship leader at the start of the race, Shoya Tomizawa ran off twice, first as the result of De Rosa’s crash which forced him wide, then of his own accord, bringing down Mattia Pasini too.

As Elías stretched out his lead and Simón shored up second, Andrea Iannone and Corsi scrapped for third behind, with the latter coming out on top to claim his first Moto2 podium.

World Championship Positions: 1 ELIAS 63, 2 TOMIZAWA 45, 3 CORSI 35, 4 SIMON 28, 5 GADEA 26, 6 LUTHI 25, 7 TALMACSI 25, 8 CLUZEL 21, 9 ROLFO 21, 10 DEBON 20, 11 IANNONE 13, 12 TAKAHASHI 13, 13 NIETO 11, 14 PASINI 10, 15 HERNANDEZ 10.

Pol Espargaró took victory with a fantastic ride in the 125cc race, edging out Nico Terol for the victory and narrowing his rival’s lead at the top of the World Championship standings to two points.

Terol led into the first turn after a storming start from his pole position, and Espargaró stuck on the Bancaja Aspar rider’s back wheel as the duo pulled away after the early stages of the race. Espargaró eventually made his decisive move to secure the win on the last lap as he crossed the line ahead of Terol.

A marvellous battle for third occurred behind, with Bradley Smith, Marc Márquez, Efrén Vázquez , and Sandro Cortese all engaged in a thrilling encounter. After Smith had been in the podium slot for most of the race, Márquez sneaked past him on the final lap, and despite the Briton’s attempts to claim the spot, in touching fairings with Marquez, Vázquez squeezed through his off-line bike for fourth. Smith finished fifth, with Cortese completing the top six.

World Championship Positions:
1 TEROL 65, 2 ESPARGARO 63, 3 RABAT 34, 4 VAZQUEZ 33, 5 MARQUEZ 32, 6 SMITH 32, 7 CORTESE 26, 8 KOYAMA 26, 9 KRUMMENACHER 20, 10 ZARCO 18, 11 MONCAYO 13, 12 MASBOU 13, 13 WEBB 12, 14 IWEMA 12, 15 SALOM 7.