Le Mans braced for adrenaline-packed MotoGP™ onslaught

Following scorching track temperatures and a racing temperament to match in Jerez, MotoGP™ ascends to Le Mans for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France to continue on-track track rivalries.

After a dominant display in tricky conditions last time out, Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa will be one of the favourites for this weekend, whilst many eyes will be peeled on how Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo will react to his now infamous last corner incident with Repsol’s Marc Marquez. With both riders separated by a tiny margin, any on track meeting is set to be a hard-fought affair.

Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi will look to get back to his podium form he showed in Qatar, whilst Monster Energy Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow will be aiming to beat the Italian at his team’s home Grand Prix. Crutchlow was in great form last time in Jerez despite suffering from pain after two heavy crashes, and will be an outside podium favourite. GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista is currently winning the battle of the satellite Hondas, yet LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl will look to put last weekend behind him, and rediscover the front end feel he seeks to be competitive.

Tech 3’s Bradley Smith may get a boost from the team’s local support, whilst the Ducati Team of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden will line up on their regular Desmosedici GP13s, despite trying the “lab bike” in the test after Jerez. Ignite Pramac Racing’s Ben Spies is still recovering from issues relating to his injured shoulder, and will be replaced by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro. Unlike in Jerez, Pirro will not ride the “lab bike”, but Spies’ actual GP13 machine. His teammate Andrea Iannone had arm-pump surgery last week, and has a slightly damaged knee, yet will hope to be close to 100 per cent for the French round.

Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro will be hard to beat as top CRT considering the form he is in, yet with teammate Randy de Puniet buoyed by his home support it could prove his toughest weekend yet. Fellow ART rider, Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham, will have recovered sufficiently from his broken collarbone to take part, whilst final ART rider Yonny Hernandez aims to overcome the set-up issues which led to his crash in Jerez.

All other CRTs will be riding with the latest Magneti Marelli software upgrade brought to the Jerez test last week. This means that wheelie control and anti-jerk strategy will be improved for NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards and teammate Claudio Corti, the Avintia Blusens pairing of Hector Barbera and Hiroshi Aoyama, Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci and Lucas Pesek, as well as PBM’s Michael Laverty and Gresini’s Bryan Staring.

World Championship Standings MotoGP™

1- Marc Marquez SPA Honda 61
2- Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 58
3- Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 57
4- Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 43
5- Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha 35