2019 MotoGP preview: Round 5, Le Mans

Round five of the MotoGP world championship resumes in France this weekend (May 18-20), and locals are already salivating at the prospect of their man, Fabio Quartararo, running at the front.

The 20-year-old French rookie has been the talk of the paddock since his debut pole position last time out in Jerez, before an unlikely technical glitch agonisingly robbed the Petronas Yamaha rider of a certain podium.

Related reading: Jerez wrap

Quartararo arrives in Le Mans as one of the key talking points: not only has he shown genuine pace throughout qualifying and racing this season, he also topped the timesheets at the recent Jerez test.

When practice for the French Grand Prix commences tonight, Quartararo is eager to continue his impressive rookie campaign near the top. He says the Jerez weekend was an invaluable learning experience that he hopes to put to use for the remainder of the season.

“It was really good for us, we didn’t expect to get the pole position,” he said. “In the race, I really struggled to keep [with the front-runners] in the opening laps but in the end I found two-tenths and I was really comfortable on the bike. It’s really positive to learn a lot of things during the race.”

In the way of Quartararo completing another fairytale pole position will be the ever-present Marc Marquez. The reigning world champion bounced back emphatically from a crash in Austin last month to secure victory in Jerez and resume the world championship lead on his Repsol Honda, albeit by 1pt.

Marquez and Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins are both being tipped as early front-runners at the French Grand Prix, going off their consistency and bike development.

“Jerez was important but it was also another race, another GP, and the important thing is that we take another 25 points,” said Marquez, who is the defending winner at Le Mans.

“Now we arrive in Le Mans and it’s a completely different track: more stop and go; last year it was a great weekend and we start optimistic.”

Marquez leads the 2019 championship ahead of Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso, who is hungrier for a maiden MotoGP title than ever.

Dovizioso tempered expectations of himself at Le Mans, pointing out that forecasted weather conditions and a stack of competitive riders will make racing tricky.

“I expect to be more to fight for the championship. I’m happy to be here, Le Mans is always a good track for me and it looks like the weather will be unstable so anything can happen,” he said.

“I’m very happy to be here.”

One man who won’t be put off by the weather forecast is wet weather specialist Jack Miller, of Pramac Ducati.

The Australian arrives in Le Mans following a disappointing end to his Spanish Grand Prix, in which he crashed out on worn rubber. Increasingly, Miller’s focus this season is to improve his braking – and he is looking squarely at Ducati’s lead rider, Dovizioso, for motivation.

“He's a late braker – I wouldn't say he's the latest, I'm pretty sure I can go later than him. It's almost a negative thing for me, that I brake too late,” Miller said.

“For me he's one of the smarter brakers, let's say. He knows when to brake and how to get it stopped in time for the corner, whereas myself I'll go deep and carry the brakes all the way to the middle of the corner, and squish my tyre – it may work for only 10 laps, but I do it. So I'm just trying to use his, let's say, racing smarts, try and copy that side of things.”

Le Mans is looking promising for the Movistar Yamaha pairing of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales. Rossi has won three times at the French circuit – second only to Jorge Lorenzo - while Vinales will carry confidence from a third place at Jerez two weeks ago.

Both are primed for big performances.

“We are curious to understand our potential because usually Le Mans is a good track for the M1 and in the last years I was always quite competitive. But for me to win is a long way from now until Sunday afternoon,” Rossi said.

“Qualifying is important and also the weather, because it looks like the forecast is not fantastic. We have to try.”

Vinales added: “For us it was really important to take up our potential in Jerez, especially in the first laps. That was really important because for us we Qatar and in Austin we could not show our potential.

“I think in Jerez, the result for us is important. We improved a lot in the Jerez test and I think this weekend we can be on the podium again.”

In Moto2, Australian Remy Gardner intends to bounce back strongly from an opening corner crash in Jerez that red-flagged the race and brought his day to an abrupt end via a concussion.

Gardner holds onto fifth overall in the Moto2 world championship.

“We missed the front row by the smallest margin but I felt really good with the bike, the team and everything that is happening so was really excited for the race,” he said.

“After a good warm up I thought we would have a good race. I made a decent start and after a bit of elbowing into turn one I slotted into third and then I high-sided and that was the end of what could have been another really good race result.

“I still don’t fully understand why I went down and then they wouldn’t let me restart. I am sorry for the team, and all my supporters. The main thing is I am ok, am still fifth in the championship and will be back strong in Le Mans.”