On a day that saw all three classes of the MotoGP™ World Championship come up against the worst weather condition seen so far this season at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans, it was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo who retook the championship lead as he dominated in tricky conditions. He finished ahead of Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi, who recorded his and the Italian outfit’s best result since joining them last season.

At the start of the race it was however Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa who got off to one of his trademark starts followed closely by teammate Casey Stoner. Their lead was short lived, as Lorenzo charged past the pair and instantly pulled out a gap. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow also made a good start in fourth, followed by a surging Rossi in fifth.

It was heartache for the French fans from the beginning as Power Electronics Aspar’s local rider Randy de Puniet dropped his bike on the grid, and had to head out on his spare one. Near the front, Rossi soon moved past Crutchlow to take fourth, with Dovizioso following suit almost instantly. Avintia Blusens’ Iván Silva’s race was ended early as he fell foul of the wet conditions, crashing out of the race in the opening stages.

With Lorenzo building a three second lead, Stoner pushed past Pedrosa to chase down his championship rival. Pedrosa seemed to struggling on the wet surface, with Rossi capitalising on this to take third with 21 laps left. The Tech3 pair passed Pedrosa even further down the order as they looked to hunt down Rossi.

Towards the back, Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies was struggling and had a wobble at the end of turn two, shortly after which he entered the pits. Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham retired with 17 laps to go, with NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s replacement rider Chris Vermeulen also having to come in for a helmet change.

As Lorenzo was maintaining his lead around the three-second mark ahead of Stoner, it was the ensuing tussle for third between Crutchlow, Dovizioso and Rossi that was providing some breath-taking overtaking in horrific conditions. Ten laps before the end it was misery for Crutchlow as he lost the front in the first chicane, leaving the two Italians to fight it out for the final podium spot, with Rossi taking third just two corners later. The Brit managed to restart his bike and re-join in eighth. Meanwhile, Lorenzo had extended his lead to six seconds at the front with Stoner a further four seconds ahead of Rossi.

With five laps to go Stoner was held up slightly by Avintia’s Yonny Hernandez, who was being lapped, allowing Rossi to get to within half a second of the Australian world champion. Two laps later, Dovizioso crashed out of fourth tying to stick with the pair, while down the field Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci crashed out of 11th.

The last three laps gave MotoGP fans a racing delight, as old adversaries Stoner and Rossi swapped positions throughout. It was however Rossi who looked back to his old self as he passed Stoner in the first chicane on the last lap, after which he pulled out a lead big enough to secure second.

At the end it was Lorenzo who took the chequered flag to take an eight-point lead at the top of the championship ahead of Stoner, who came home in third. Pedrosa managed fourth, while LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl recorded his best ever result in fifth, ahead or Rossi’s teammate Nicky Hayden. Dovizioso, who managed to re-join after crashing, finished seventh ahead of his teammate Crutchlow, while Pramac Racing’s Héctor Barberá and San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista completed the top ten. Paul Bird Motorsport’s James Ellison put in a great performance to finish as top CRT in 11th.

Moto2

Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi put in a tremendous ride to take his season-first victory at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans amid difficult conditions in a dramatic Moto2™ race.

Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Pol Espargaró got the best start as he stormed into the lead along with Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding. The first chicane proved difficult as Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi was bucked off his bike, with the trio of NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Yuki Takahashi, GP Team Switzerland’s Randy Krummenacher and S/Master Speed Up’s Mike Di Meglio taking each other out a few corners later.

Espargaró was trying to pull away at the front, but Lüthi and Redding were closely on his heels, with Tech 3 Racing’s Bradley Smith and Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Gino Rea in tow. Takahashi’s teammate Alex de Angelis survived a scare as he slid back onto the track after coming off his bike, with the Moto2 pack doing tremendously well to avoid the rider.

Just as Rea looked to making headway, JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco went up the inside, clipping the Brit’s front wheel, and sending him into the gravel, putting an end to his first race on the new Suter chassis. Meanwhile, Italtrans Racing Team’s Claudio Corti joined the front five, with Speed Master compatriot Andrea Iannone surging up the field as well.

With 17 laps to go, Espargaró ran wide, handing the lead to Lüthi and dropping into ninth in the process. Smith also had a run off track, but managed to re-join in 14th. Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez, who did not have a terrific start, was fighting his way up to the front five, as he tussled with rain-specialist Zarco.

Drama followed shortly after as the Spanish championship leader went down after loosing control of his bike, and being unable to re-join. This left Zarco to challenge for a podium, and the Frenchman soon pushed past Redding into second, followed by Corti, who put in a bold move on the Brit. With 13 laps to go, Lüthi had pulled out a lead of just over three seconds.

Arguiñano Racing Team’s Ricard Cardús suffered a heavy high-side half way through the race, yet fortunately walked away unscathed. Further down the field, Espargaró was struggling to make up positions, as he was overtaken in eighth place by QMMF Racing Team’s Anthony West, who was showing his usual prowess in the rain.

Di Meglio, who had re-joined the race after his early crash, lost control of his bike once again with nine laps to go, putting an end to his race. He was followed shortly by Corti’s teammate Takaaki Nakagami who had a high-speed crash heading into the back chicane. With six laps left, Zarco had cut the lead to Lüthi to under a second, whilst West went past Blusens Avintia’s Julián Simón into sixth. West’s teammate Elena Rosell was not faring as well as the Australian, as she crashed out of the race.

French heartache soon followed, as Zarco lost the back-end of his bike as he continued to push hard in the wet, handing second place to Corti and third to Redding. The main tussle in the pack was for sixth place with Redding’s teammate Kallio, West, Espargaró, Simón and Smith swapping positions in the final few laps. The unpredictability of the race was to continue until the final corner as Smith dropped his bike in the last turn, and Simón having to push his bike across the finish line due to an electrical fault.

It was however Lüthi who put in a stunning ride to take the chequered flag ahead of Corti, who recorded his first ever podium, and Redding in third, recording his first podium for 22 races. Rounding out the top ten were Iannone, Kallio, Espargaró, West, Kiefer Racing’s Max Neukirchner, Thai Honda Gresini’s Ratthapark Wilairot as well as Smith, who managed to salvage a few points.

Moto3

In the Moto3™ race of the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans, it was Frenchman Louis Rossi who kept his nerve to take his first ever win in treacherous conditions in front of his home crowd.

In a race that started in extremely wet conditions, it was Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales who got away best, with AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin also making a tremendous start from 10th into second. JHK T-Shirt Laglisse’s Efrén Vázquez, who was second on the grid, suffered mechanical issues on the out-lap and was unable to start the race.

There were crashes early on as RW Racing GP’s Brad Binder took out TT Motion Events Racing’s Niklas Ajo, which was followed up shortly after with IodaRacing Project’s Jonas Folger and local rider, Caretta Technology’s Alexis Masbou, sliding off into the gravel.

Back at the front it was Bankia Aspar Team’s Héctor Faubel and RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom that went into the lead, as Viñales dropped off the pace slightly. However the conditions continued to take their toll, as Team Italia FMI’s Romano Fenati suffered a similar fate to last race as he also lost control of his bike, putting an end to his first French race. Technomag-CIP-TSR’s Kenta Fujii repeated his morning warm-up crash, rounding out a less than ideal day for the Japanese rider.

With 18 laps to go, a five-some of Faubel, Salom, Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Jakub Kornfeil, Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Miguel Oliveira and Viñales were involved in an entertaining battle for podium positions. In the following laps, further casualties of the weather were Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Danny Kent, Mahindra Racing’s Danny Webb, Ambrogio Next Racing’s Simone Grotzkyj and Caretta Technology’s Jack Miller, while Fenati’s teammate Alessandro Tonucci had to retire to the pits with a mechanical problem.

With 11 laps to go there was drama at the front as Faubel crashed out of first position, with Kornfeil crashing out of third a few seconds later, handing the first three places to Oliveira, Viñales and Rossi. Half a lap later, Salom followed suit as he slid off into the gravel in ever worsening conditions.

As a thrilling fight for fourth ensued between Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese and Khairuddin, there was further turmoil at the front, as the surging Oliveira crashed out of the lead, handing the reigns to Viñales, who was being hunted down by Rossi.

This lasted for a lap only, as Viñales threw himself of his bike in the final corner, followed shortly by Khairuddin. The Malaysian managed to keep his bike going, while the race was over for the Spaniard. This left Frenchman Rossi in the lead by over 20 seconds, much to the delight of the home crowd, with Cortese and Bankia Aspar’s Alberto Moncayo in podium positions. Three laps before the end Cortese lost the front going into the first chicane, yet managed to keep the bike going to re-join in sixth, with Oliveira’s teammate Alex Rins slipping into third with San Carlo Gresini Moto3’s Niccolo Antonelli on his tail.

In the end it was Rossi who made the Le Mans grandstands cheer with delight as he took his first ever victory by a margin of 28 seconds in front of Moncayo and Rins. Antonelli could not quite challenge for the podium finishing fourth, in front of Red Bull KTM Ajo duo of Arthur Sissis and Cortese and Moto FGR’s Jasper Iwema.

Source: motogp.com

Redding made an aggressive start from the second row of the grid and quickly assessed grip levels to put his Kalex machine inside the top three for the opening 12 laps.

Redding’s new smooth riding style that he started using in France to help conserve his Dunlop tyres over a race distance was also a huge benefit in the wet conditions and the 19-year-old kept himself in contention for the podium, despite slipping back to fourth on lap 13.

In conditions that demanded immense skill and concentration, Redding was promoted back into third on lap 22 when hard charging French rider Johann Zarco crashed out of second place.

Redding then rode a faultless final five laps to secure his first podium since the 2010 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, a result made even more special coming in the home race for the Marc VDS Racing Team’s technical sponsor Elf.

Scott Redding #45: 3rd Position “I am really happy because it feels like a long time since I was on the podium and this is a great result for me and the Marc VDS Team. We have been threatening to get a result like this all season and it feels great because last year was a bit of a disaster and we made a big gamble to change the chassis to Kalex. Right from the start of testing it made a big difference to my confidence. Apart from the result, the positive is that I felt confident in the rain. I had a great feeling with the bike and to be on the podium in the rain is a special feeling. It was tough at the start because each time I touched the throttle I’d lose the rear, so I just calmed down and tried to be smooth and attacked when I felt comfortable. Once I got back into third I just kept my concentration because it was easy to make a mistake and now we can move forward with a lot of confidence that I’m competitive in both wet and dry.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal “I am delighted with Scott and Mika today because to have both of them in the top five is a fantastic result for the Marc VDS Racing Team and reflects our high potential in 2012. It was easy to make a mistake with the conditions so difficult, but both of them kept their cool and gave us a perfect ending to a very positive weekend. In the dry I was confident we could achieve this result, but I was very worried when it was raining. I woke up at 4am this morning a little worried because Scott hasn’t been that competitive in the rain recently. So for him to deliver a performance like that is a brilliant reward for him and his crew. Mika also did an outstanding job because without his determination, fifth could have been 10th. He showed real class and experience at the end to pull away from some strong riders, including Espargaro. This weekend was a big event for Elf too, so it gives us even more pleasure to get this result in France for them. I’d also like to congratulate our car team who finished fourth, and the highest placed BMW team, on their debut at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring today.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing

Gino Rea (DNF) “We’ve had a tough start to the year and when you have an opportunity like this and somebody makes a crazy pass that puts you out of the race it is frustrating. I could pretty much do what I wanted on the bike and I’d only had one major moment with it before the crash. I’m sorry for the team but we have a lot of positives to take from the weekend and it’s important we do that.”

Fausto Gresini “I am disappointed for Gino because he was having a great race. It was nice to see him fighting at the front, I would just like to see him be a little less aggressive over the first couple of laps because he was at risk of crashing on a couple of occasions. Then came the contact with Zarco. Anyway, he has shown his potential now and adapted well to the Suter so I am sure we will see some top performances too. Obviously there is a lot to learn and he needs to crash less because any more injuries could compromise his season”

Source: Gresini Racing

A phenomenal start from 19th on the grid saw Smith finish the first lap in treacherously wet conditions in sixth place. Expertly understanding how hard he could attack on a soaking wet surface, Smith moved into the top three just five laps later to pursue Pol Espargaro and Thomas Luthi.

The 21-year-old’s hopes though of securing a fir st rostrum of the 2012 World Championship campaign were ended by a small mistake while he was running in fourth on lap nine. Smith momentarily ran off track and re-joined the race in 14th, but immediately recovered his fast rhythm to launch a brilliant fight back.

He was back inside the top 10 on lap 17 and then superbly fought his way through to sixth on the final lap when he lost the front-end of his Mistral 610 machine at the last corner while fighting to claim his best result of the season.

He remounted to finish 10th, a result which moves him into eighth position in the World Championship classification.

Smith was the lone representative for the Tech 3 Racing Team in Le Mans today, with team-mate Xavier Simeon unfortunately unable to start the 26-lap race through injury. The Belgian rider suffered a broken left hand and foot in a heavy qualifying crash yesterday. He will undergo surgery on the right hand in Belgium tomorrow (Monday) and begin his recovery.

Bradley Smith 10th – 24 points:
“It was an eventful way to mark my 100th race and I suppose it could have been better and it could have been worse. I had a brilliant first couple of laps and was quickly battling for the podium. It was difficult because I wanted to be aggressive and push but I had to be careful not to take too many risks with the conditions so tricky. The bike was sliding around a lot, particularly on corner entry, and that’s why I ran off. I recovered my confidence and pace really quickly and it was great to battle my way back inside the top six. But I made a small mistake at the final corner and crashed. I’m happy because I could pick the bike up and still finish 10th and I was also very fast in the wet conditions. But I’m a little bit disappointed too because it was possible to fight for the podium, and that would have been an amazing way to celebrate my 100th race.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager: “Firstly I want to wish Xavier a speedy recovery. He had a big crash but fortunately after extensive checks in hospital, he has no serious injuries and he will be back in Belgium tomorrow where he is likely to have an operation on the broken hand. It was nice to see him in the garage today and everybody at Tech 3 Racing wishes him well and we hope to see him back on the Mistral 610 machine soon. The race was eventful to say the least. Bradley made an astonishing start and gained a lot of places and we were starting to dream of a podium, which didn’t seem likely from the seventh row. In those difficult conditions it is difficult to be so precise on every lap and he made a slight mistake that dropped him out of the top 10. He rode brilliantly to get back into sixth and then crashed at the last corner, which is a big pity. He still got 10th but it should have been a better result and could have triggered a run of form like from Silverstone last year where he was incredibly strong and always at the front.”

Source: Team Tech3

Not Classified
5 Johann ZARCO FRA JIR Moto2 MOTOBI 40’28.874 130.260 5 laps
82 Elena ROSELL SPA QMMF Racing Team MORIWAKI 36’48.438 122.796 8 laps
30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Italtrans Racing Team KALEX 33’07.404 128.872 9 laps
63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA S/Master Speed Up SPEED UP 32’03.082 125.348 10 laps
88 Ricard CARDUS SPA Arguiñano Racing Team AJR 25’20.988 128.770 13 laps
93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol SUTER 23’03.434 119.793 15 laps
8 Gino REA GBR Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 SUTER 13’45.352 127.778 19 laps
7 Alexander LUNDH SWE Cresto Guide MZ Racing HONDA 14’41.712 119.610 19 laps
15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM NGM Mobile Forward Racing SUTER 5’59.445 125.743 23 laps
47 Angel RODRIGUEZ SPA Desguaces La Torre SAG BIMOTA 4’15.664 117.857 24 laps
3 Simone CORSI ITA Came IodaRacing Project FTR 5’12.078 96.552 24 laps
4 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI GP Team Switzerland KALEX 3’16.523 76.662 25 laps

Gino Rea. (24th 1’ 39” 796) “The position is still not where we want to be but we’re improving the bike. I didn’t manage to get an ideal lap in today because we used the new tyre at the start of the session and by the time we wanted to really push it was already worn. It’s good that we’ve closed the gap to the leaders but it’s a shame to start from so far back. Hopefully we can make a good start in the race and make up some more positions.”

Fausto Gresini “We knew this Grand Prix would be like a test for us and it has proved to be the case. It is not always easy to switch to a new bike and today was a case of working to find a set-up that allows Gino to contest a positive race.”

Source: Gresini Racing

Smith will start his landmark 100th Grand Prix from the front of the seventh row of the grid after the Moto2 field served up another closely contested qualifying session at a cool and cloudy Le Mans track.

Smith clocked a best time of 1.39.301, which left him less than 0.5s away from the third row, but as he was poised to try and improve his lap time in the final five minutes, rain spots started to fall on the legendary Bugatti circuit to deny the 21-year-old.

Xavier Simeon will not start the 26-lap race after he suffered fractures to his left hand and foot in a heavy crash on his 12th lap. Simeon has been transferred to a Le Mans hospital where he will undergo further assessment after also suffering a heavy blow his to pelvis.

Bradley Smith 19th 139.301 – 21 laps:
“Starting from 19th place on the grid is not where I anticipated being for my 100th Grand Prix. Obviously it is a special weekend reaching that milestone and this being the Tech 3 Racing Team’s home race, but it was another frustrating qualifying session. I had quite good pace this morning and then we made some changes to the Mistral 610 machine and unfortunately we didn’t make it better. The weather didn’t help when it started to rain at the end and to be honest I won’t be too sorry if it is a wet race. If it rains then we have a chance of being able to fight through the pack, but in the dry it will definitely be a tough race. We’ll analyse where it wrong today and be ready to come out fighting tomorrow. I also want to wish Xavier a quick recovery and hope to see him back on the other side of the Tech 3 Racing garage soon.”

Source: Team Tech3

British rider Redding heads the second row of the grid in fourth position after he posted a best time of 1.38.369, which saw him denied a second consecutive front row start by just 0.179s.

The 19-year-old excelled in practice to finish second fastest overall and he was confident he could have pushed for the front row only for late rain and a small crash to thwart his bid.

This afternoon’s session was building up to a typically exciting climax when rain that had affected the earlier MotoGP and Moto3 sessions began to fall with just five minutes left on the clock.

Small spots of rain were falling at almost every corner and pushing to try and improve his pace, Redding ran off track in the final two minutes and despite a valiant attempt to keep control of his Kalex machine he toppled over in the gravel trap.

Scott Redding #45: 4th Position – 1’38.369
“It was a decent session and I can’t complain to be fourth on the grid but the rain spots right at the end probably cost me a front row. I’ve been fast and competitive and inside the top three all weekend, so it would have been nice to be on the front row. It was hard to judge where the grip was at the end and to be honest I should have cracked on a bit earlier. It took me a bit too long to get into a rhythm but I’m not a million miles away, so I’m confident I will be battling at the front in the race tomorrow. The crash at the end was a shame but I just couldn’t keep it on two wheels in the gravel. I’d rather that happen today though than in the race!”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“When we look at how Scott has been so fast and competitive throughout practice yesterday and this morning, we were pretty confident that he would be starting the race from the front row. The conditions were a little bit tricky and that didn’t make it easy but the good thing is Scott was still fast and consistent and able to qualify just off the front row. It is a good starting position to make a good race and the important thing is that he has demonstrated all weekend that he has the pace. Mika has also been challenging inside the top six all weekend too, so we are really looking forward to seeing both our riders battling for the podium tomorrow. That would be a perfect situation to reward the support of our loyal and valued sponsor Elf in the French Grand Prix.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing