Marquez masterclass at Le Mans

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) completed yet another dominant display in MotoGP on Sunday, May 19, picking up his third victory of the season in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

The Spaniard was headed only briefly by Australian Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Ducati) in the opening laps before checking out to comfortable margin and controlling the race. Twenty-six-year-old Marquez finished clear of factory Ducati pair Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci, with Miller coming home in a respectable fourth to complete a solid outing for the Italian manufacturer.

MOTOGP RESULTS HERE

In crossing the line first, Marquez chalked up Honda’s 300th win in the premier class, and extended his championship lead to 8pts over Dovizioso.

“I’m very happy. Last year we did a great race but this year it was much warmer, it’s the first time we race with a soft tyre on the front and I can find the lap time in a different way,” Marquez, the reigning world champion, said.

“I’m now able to use different tyres and different riding style so today a nice fight in the beginning with Petrucci and Miller, but my target was to try and lead the race. I’m happy and of course happier because my brother won in Moto2 – it’s a nice day for the family.”

The late braking and hard acceleration points of Le Mans initially looked like a match made in heaven for Ducati, which hasn’t won at the French circuit in the main game. Afterwards, Dovizioso was measured in his assessment of the race: happy with another 20pts but frustrated at Marquez’s ease of victory.

“We have to be happy about the 20 points and the situation of the championship. This is really positive: we are there and everything’s still open,” he said.

“On the other side I’m not too happy about the weekend. My speed was there but not good enough so we go into the race and my confidence wasn’t 100 per cent.

“To go home with 20 points is really positive. I was fighting with the rear tyre and this is not good if you want to fight for the championship.

“We have to stay calm. We are very close with this race and for the championship. We have to study and we have to work.”

For Petrucci, a first podium in 12 months provided long-term reassurance for the Italian, whose factory seat remains up for grabs in 2020 pending his results this season. After being passed early by Miller, Petrucci knuckled down to get around the Australian, before making an unsuccessful passing attempt on Dovizioso.

Ducati satellite rider Miller certainty didn’t do his chances of a Bologna factory ride any harm by pressuring Petrucci throughout the race.

The result came as a huge confidence boost for Miller, knowing that he has the pace to run at the front in all conditions. The 24-year-old took promise from the fact he finished only 2.9 seconds behind race winner Marquez.

“We’ve been where we were at the start of the race a couple of times but never really stuck it out or seen it through to the end like that,” commented Miller, when asked if this is one of his best races in the premier class to date.

“I saw Marc going over the line so that’s good, I’ll take that. That’s a positive but you know, just another learning day for us. Once I got past Danilo, which was quite hard at the start you know, he was having a look at Marc but didn’t really seem to have the pace that we had at the start, and yeah once I got past him I just reeled in Marc, then got past Marc, and I probably spent too much of the edge trying to do so.”

Finishing in fifth was Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, crucially bagging another tally of points for the championship.

It was a best result of the season for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Pol Espargaro, the Spaniard had looked strong all weekend and he proved it in the race, a P6 for him went down very well with the Austrian factory – something for them to build on for sure.

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) took seventh to finish just over a second clear of his teammate and home hero Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman made a bad start and sat outside the points in the early stages, but some great race pace from the mid-point onwards means fast Fabio takes home a very respectable top ten from France.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) lost out to Quartararo in the latter stages, the British rider finished ninth. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins loses out in the title race after a 10th place finish.

Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda) earnt his best Honda result in 11th, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), home favourite Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and the two Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s of Hafizh Syahrin – the Malaysian’s first points of the season – and Miguel Oliveira completed the points. Oliveira was handed a penalty that dropped him below Syahrin in the standings.

Francesco Bagnaia (Alma Pramac Racing) and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales collided and crashed out together on lap seven, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) also crashing – riders okay.

Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) retired, the latter after a curious crash alongside Suzuki’s Joan Mir in the warm-up lap.

In Moto2, Australia’s Remy Gardner could only look ahead to the next round in Mugello after crashing out for a second consecutive race.
After topping the time sheets convincingly in the morning warm-up, Gardner started the race from the fourth row, progressing up to sixth by the halfway point before a critical error.

“It was good to be back on track and back at the sharp end,” Gardner said afterwards.

“We were fast on Friday in the dry and I felt good for qualifying but the rain came, and we just didn’t have enough time to change everything for a better set-up, so we ended up P12.

“The race itself was disappointing after a major mistake on my end. I entered the corner 1km/h faster, but I lost the front and some very important points. On the bright side we were fast, and we were in the mix and it should have been an easy top five. These things happen but it can’t happen again.

“We move on to Italy where we need to finish the race and pull some points back. Thanks again for all the support on social media and to my ONEXOX TKKR SAG Racing squad.”

The MotoGP season moves to Mugello in two weeks’ time, a circuit that has been fruitless for Marquez since 2014.