MotoGP Le Mans Race Day Guide
By Dr. Martin Raines
- For the fourth successive race the three riders on the front row of the MotoGP grid are riding bikes from three different manufacturers.
- Marc Marquez starts from pole for the third time in 2015 and for the third successive year at the French Grand Prix.
- Andrea Dovizioso is in second place on the grid – his third front row start of 2015. Dovizioso was the first Ducati rider across the line last year at Le Mans in 8th place.
- Jorge Lorenzo, who is in third place on the grid, will be aiming for his first podium at Le Mans since he won the French GP in 2012.
- Heading the second row of the grid is Cal Crutchlow, who finished second two years ago at Le Mans to equal his best ever grand prix result.
- Andrea Iannone has qualified in fifth place on grid at one of the five circuits on the current MotoGP schedule where he has not had a GP podium finish in any of the classes.
- Bradley Smith starts from sixth place on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was fourth fastest qualifier at Phillip Island last year.
- Heading the third row is Valentino Rossi, who has finished on the podium at the last eight races and will be aiming to win at Le Mans for the first time since 2008.
- After missing the last three races, Dani Pedrosa, the winner at Le Mans two years ago, has qualified in eighth place on the grid.
- In ninth place on the grid is Danilo Petrucci, who missed the French GP last year due to a wrist injury suffered at Jerez.
- After a heavy crash in practice, Aleix Espargaro has qualified in tenth place on the grid and the best of the Suzuki riders.
- Pol Espargaro, in twelfth place on the grid, finished fourth last year at Le Mans, his best result of his rookie year in the MotoGP class.
- Nicky Hayden is in 14th place on the grid and is the top Open Class rider in qualifying for the first time this year.
Moto2
- Alex Rins has qualified on pole for the first time since moving up to the Moto2 class this year. Rins is the third youngest rider to qualify on pole in the Moto2 class, after Marc Marquez and Shoya Tomizawa.
- Five different riders have qualified on from pole in the Moto2 class in the first five races of the year.
- Sam Lowes starts from the front row for the third time in 2015; he is the only non-Kalex rider in the Moto2 class to have started from the front row so far this year.
- In third place on the grid is Johann Zarco, who has finished either first or second at the last three races. Zarco will be aiming to become the first French rider ever to win an intermediate-class (Moto2/250cc) grand prix at the Le Mans circuit.
- Last year’s Moto2 winner in Le Mans, Tito Rabat, starts from fourth place on the grid. This is the first time since the Aragon GP last year that Rabat has failed to get on the front row.
- Takaaki Nakagami starts the race from the middle of the second row. Nakagami crashed out of the Moto2 race at Le Mans two years ago when leading the race on the seventh lap.
- Three times grand prix winner at Le Mans, Tom Luthi, starts the race from sixth place on the grid.
Moto3
- Fabio Quartararo becomes the youngest ever rider to start back-to-back grand prix races from pole position taking the record from Maverick Viñales.
- Quartararo is the first French rider to start on pole for a French grand prix since Olivier Jacque in the 250cc class at Paul Ricard in 1997 and the first French rider to start on pole for a GP at Le Mans since Jean-Philippe Ruggia in the 250cc class in 1989.
- In second place on the grid is Jorge Navarro, which is his first front row start in grand prix racing.
- Francesco Bagnaia is in third place on the grid – his first front row start in grand prix racing. Bagnaia finished 4th at Le Mans last year, which is his best ever GP result.
- Jakub Kornfeil heads the second row of the grid – his best qualifying result since he was in 3rd place on the grid in Malaysia last year.
- Romano Fenati is in fifth place on the grid, which is his best qualifying result since he was in fourth place on the grid at Indianapolis last year.
- Home rider Jules Danilo starts from sixth place on the grid, which is a big improvement on his previous best grid position of 18th at Austin and Qatar earlier this year.
- Maria Herrera starts from 11th place on the grid, which is the best qualifying result by a female rider since Ana Carrasco was 7th on the grid at Phillip Island in 2013.
- Championship leader Danny Kent, who qualified in 31st place, finished 13th last year at Le Mans, which is his best result from his four GP starts at Le Mans.
