Source: scottredding45.com

MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa has become the first rider to win two races in the 2013 MotoGP™ season, coming from sixth position on the grid in mixed conditions at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans. He now leads the championship from Repsol Honda Team teammate Marc Marquez, who fought to the podium after a poor start as Britain’s Cal Crutchlow finished a GP career-best second.

For the second year in succession, the field was presented with a wet track for the start of the race, with all competitors duly electing to fit the soft compound wet weather tyres for both front and rear wheels, although this resulted in an extremely difficult final laps as the tarmac dried out.

Pedrosa’s ride to a first victory at Le Mans in the premier class was a calculated but exciting one. Having crashed in qualifying, he stayed out of trouble at the start and passed Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo. The Honda rider then caught Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso, who had fought into the lead from a front row start and continually re-passed Pedrosa whenever the latter made a mistake. The final swapping of places came at half distance.

The weekend was a memorable one for Crutchlow. On Saturday the Englishman sustained a fracture to the top of his shinbone, causing immense pain in the knee, but from fourth on the grid he made the most of the mixed conditions and stormed passed old teammate Dovizioso in the closing stages. The Ducati rider led for a chunk of the race and ultimately just missed out on a rostrum result as Marquez fought back from a poor getaway and a selection of off-track moments. The Spaniard therefore maintained his 100% podium finish record for 2013.

Nicky Hayden confirmed Ducati’s strongest day of the campaign to date by finishing fifth from GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, but it was a somewhat disastrous afternoon for Yamaha Factory Racing. Lorenzo struggled to make an impression and slid down the order to seventh with major set-up issues, whereas Valentino Rossi – who had previously battled with his teammate – fell while under pressure from Hayden. The Italian recovered to 12th behind Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone, whose temporary teammate Michele Pirro rose to eighth ahead of Tech 3’s Bradley Smith.

LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl finished tenth after suffering a small fall due to issues with his visor and general visibility. Aleix Espargaro again celebrated the top CRT spot in 13th, although the Power Electronics Aspar rider had to fight past Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci and took advantage of a crash for teammate and local favourite Randy de Puniet. Gresini’s Bryan Staring, NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Claudio Corti, Came IodaRacing Project’s Lukas Pesek and PBM’s Yonny Hernandez also all retired, but no rider suffered injury.

Moto2

Britain’s Scott Redding triumphed in Moto2™ for the first time as he won a rain-affected Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans today. It was a one-two finish for the Marc VDS Racing Team as Mika Kallio finished second, but there was disaster for numerous championship contenders who slipped out of contention.

Redding’s emotional victory makes him the first British rider to win at Le Mans since Alan Carter took the chequered flag in the 250 race of 30 years ago; his own previous career win had been in the 125 class at Donington Park in 2008. This afternoon’s success was no easy feat, as at the start the 20-year-old had plummeted to ninth position off the wetter, right-hand side of the track following heavy rain overnight.

Takaaki Nakagami led in the early stages from Pol Espargaro, with both Espargaro and championship-leading Tuenti HP 40 teammate Esteve Rabat falling in harmony at Musee corner, dropping down the order on Lap 3. Nakagami was left with a three-second advantage, but the Italtrans Racing Team man lost control at the same corner just four laps later as sprinkles of rain made for a greasy track surface.

The intermediary conditions contributed to retirements for no less than ten riders, including Mapfre Aspar Tech Moto2 pairing Jordi Torres and Nico Terol, Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Tom Luthi and the independently-funded Gino Rea, who had remarkably reached a high of 12th position from 31st on the grid.

A strong recovery ride from Redding saw him rise to the front on Lap 8, passing Johann Zarco who had delighted the French crowd by leading. Redding’s teammate Kallio looked to threaten as he typically grew stronger and pushed on in the second half of the race. Heavier rain towards the end threw a spanner into the works for Redding, but red flags flew on the 24th of 26 laps. As the result was declared at the end of Lap 22 (the last which all riders had completed), Kallio inherited second position despite being overtaken by Xavier Simeon before the stoppage. Nevertheless, the Belgian Desguaces La Torre Maptaq rider still achieved a first ever podium finish.

Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter and Came Iodaracing Project’s aforementioned Zarco were fourth and fifth from NGM Mobile Racing’s Mattia Pasini, JiR Moto2’s Mike di Meglio and Italtrans’ Julian Simon. Anthony West and Alex de Angelis completed the top ten for QMMF Racing Team and NGM Mobile Forward Racing, respectively, as reigning Moto3™ champion Sandro Cortese scored his first Moto2 points, in 13th place for Dynavolt Intact GP. In 15th, the final point was collected by Tech 3 Racing’s Frenchman Louis Rossi, who had won the Moto3™ race at Le Mans 12 months ago.

Moto3

Maverick Viñales won Sunday’s Moto3™ Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans from pole position, thus becoming the first two-time race victor of the 2013 season. The well-judged ride saw the Team Calvo rider head up an all-Spanish podium from previous race winners Alex Rins and Luis Salom.

Rain had been forecast for the race, but ultimately no drops would fall over the course of the 24 laps. Viñales enjoyed a clean start this afternoon, but it was Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger who – from a front row start – swept into the lead under braking for Turn 3.

It took Viñales two attempts to make the move stick, but he eventually edged back past Folger on the ninth lap. The German would soon drop to fourth place, behind Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Rins and Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Salom, as he overshot the Chemin aux Boeufs chicane. Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez finished inside the top five for the first time since Qatar, having overtaken front row starter Miguel Oliveira who lost control of his Mahindra Racing bike and crashed at the start of Lap 4. If any lap was a winning one for Viñales, it was the penultimate, as he delivered a scorching fastest lap of the race to extend the leading advantage to just under one second.

There were several touches between bikes and no less than seven riders failed to make the finish. Kiefer Racing’s Florian Alt fell just seconds after Oliveira had departed the race while GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 duo Niccolo Antonelli and Lorenzo Baldassarri, plus Marc VDS Racing Team’s wildcard Jules Danilo, made unforced errors. The biggest moment came on Lap 21, as Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin highsided at Chemin aux Boeufs while running seventh, landing across the bows of Avant Tecno’s Niklas Ajo and duly removing both men from the action.

The Khairuddin-Ajo incident very much shook up the running order. Jakub Kornfeil was sixth for Redox RW Racing GP as San Carlo Team Italia’s Romano Fenati and Ambrogio Racing’s Brad Binder were promoted to seventh and eighth places. In 15th, German Philipp Oettl fended off fellow rookie, Marc VDS’ Livio Loi, to score his first ever point for Tec Interwetten Moto3 Racing.

Source: motogp.com

Kyle Smith could not escape the bad luck that seemed to follow both Blusens Avintia riders this weekend. After a good start in which Kyle found himself in the top 20, he got hit by another rider and had to abandon the race in the early stages. Smith hopes for a change of luck in his favour in Mugello and the chance to smoothly continue his debut season.

#9 Kyle Smith – DNF
I’m disgusted because it’s the second time in a row that I didn’t finish a race. It hasn’t been an easy weekend. On Friday we were a little bit lost with the set up as we’d gone the wrong way and I struggled to go fast. On Saturday we made a positive step forward and today in warm up, in the wet, I was 9th. Things were looking quite promising for the race. I had a good start and was with a good group of riders, but when braking into the corner the bike just suddenly disappeared from underneath me. Some rider had slipped and rammed me from behind. I really hope that things will work out much better in Mugello.

Source: Avintia Racing

Several riders succumbed to the difficult conditions at Le Mans today but Danny Kent engaged in an exciting battle throughout with teammate Louis Rossi.

Their close battle looked certain to go all the way to the chequered flag but with the forecast rain arriving just three laps from the end of the race, Race Direction had no choice but to halt proceedings.

The red flag meant the honour of scoring the first top 15 finish in 2013 for the French designed and built Tech 3 Racing Mistral 610 machine went to Rossi by a fraction of a second from British rider Kent, who can take great encouragement from his highest finish in his Moto2 career to date.

With Rossi and Kent racing to their best results of the 2013 campaign today, the Tech 3 Racing Team now heads to the next round in Mugello with renewed optimism and confidence that both can consistently compete for the top 15 on the improving Mistral 610 machine.

Danny Kent – 16th:
“That was the best race I’ve had so far this year. I’m a little bit disappointed because I had just passed Louis and was confident I could take my first top 15 in Moto2 when the red flags came out. That dropped me back to 16th but it was still an encouraging race. The main issue is that we struggle a bit on speed compared to the other riders. This is a track where you can pass at the end of the straight but the speed issue made it a tricky situation and even compared to Louis I didn’t seem to be able to match his speed. But after a few moments in the early laps I’m really happy about my pace. I still lose too much time during the first laps and that means being too far from the points. But we learned a lot again during this weekend and I am convinced we’ll be more competitive in Mugello.”

Source: Tech3 Communications

Scott Redding secured his first win in the Moto2 World Championship with an impressive ride to victory in today’s French Moto2 Grand Prix, which was ended prematurely by the onset of heavy rain.

Scott’s victory, the first by an English rider in the intermediate class since Alan Carter’s win in Le Mans exactly 30 years ago, saw the 20-year-old Briton retake the lead in the championship standings with a 24-point advantage over Tito Rabat who, along with his Pons teammate Pol Espargaro, crashed out of today’s race in the difficult conditions.

Scott lost ground at the start but, together with teammate Mika Kallio, quickly fought his way back into the top five, as the tricky mixed conditions claimed a number of victims in the early stages of the race. The two Marc VDS riders eventually forced their way to the front, with Scott taking the lead and Kallio squeezing past Xavier Simeon into second place. And that’s how it ended, as the red flag was brought out with three laps to go due to heavy rain falling on what had been declared a dry race.

“It’s an amazing feeling to have taken the win today, in what were very difficult conditions,” declared Scott. “It’s a fitting reward for the team, who have all worked so hard for this win and, to them, I have to say a big thank you. I also owe a lot to Marc van der Straten for his support, so it was great that we had the chance to stand together on the top step of the podium today. The win also puts me back on the top of the championship standings, but this time with a bit more of an advantage, so I’m happy with that. Now we go to Mugello, where I’ll definitely be looking for more of the same!”

Source: Marc VDS Racing
Photo: motogp.com

The historic French circuit in Le Mans is well-known for its wet and quickly changing weather conditions which this afternoon hampered one more time the Moto2 rookies Danny Kent and Louis Rossi from putting convincing performances on track during the all-important home race for the French based Tech3 Racing Team.

Immediately after starting track time some rain drops began to fall, which forced the riders to push to their maximum from the earliest stages on, a situation which penalized the newcomers in the ultra-competitive Moto2 category.

Boost from the home crowd Louis Rossi managed to use the lack of experience on his Mistral 610 as extra motivation qualifying in twenty-first position on grid while his teammate Danny Kent will start tomorrow’s 26 lap race two rows behind the local French rider after Kent qualified 26th.

Today’s qualifying performances of both young talented riders do not demonstrate the real potential but both are hopefully for an aggressive start that will put them in a battle which of course will help to gain vital experience and bring home the first points of the season.

Danny Kent 26th – 1’40.613 – 11 laps:
“Honestly I’m quite disappointed with the result of today’s qualifying as we were taking steps forward during the whole weekend in terms of improving my confidence on the bike. But just a few rain drops were enough to put me back to my initial position as I really wanted to avoid crashing out. Even starting from the ninth row is far from ideal, I will get my head down trying to score the best possible result in front of the French fans. Maybe the uncertain weather condition and the predicted rain will help me a little bit. My main aim is to focus on a good start and be immediately fast during the opening laps of the race as that seem to be the part where we are losing most of our time.”

Source: Tech3 Communications

Kyle Smith showed good progress after a very complicated Friday. When the asphalt was still dry he found himself in the top 20, but with the desire to do better and the impending rain he pushed too hard and crashed with half the session to go. Kyle couldn’t ride a single lap in the wet and will have to wait for tomorrow’s warm up, should it be raining, to work on the set up and get a feel for riding the bike in wet conditions.

#9 Kyle Smith – 22th position – 1.40.284
I feel very bad that I crashed, as much for the team as for myself. Yesterday was a difficult and complicated day and I struggled to make any progress. Today I made a big step in the right direction and I felt very good. But when it started to rain I crashed at the end of the straight and I couldn’t go back out on track. It’s a real shame, because if it rains tomorrow, I will not have ridden any laps on a wet track, unless it rains during warm up. I’m still very motivated though and each day I can see I’m getting closer to my rivals.

Scott Redding will start tomorrow’s Moto2 French Grand Prix at Le Mans from the front row of the grid, after posting the second fastest time in this afternoon’s rain disrupted qualifying session at Le Mans.

Despite a crash at La Chapelle during free practice this morning, Scott went into this afternoon’s all-important 45-minute qualifying session full of confidence and determined to push for his second pole position of the season.

With rain clouds looming around the Le Mans circuit, the 20-year-old Briton was quick to claim provisional pole, but was pushed back to second by Takaaki Nakagami, just as the rain finally arrived at Le Mans. With conditions worsening as the session drew to a close, Scott was forced to settle for second place on the grid and his third front row start of the season.

“I was up for taking another pole position today, as I definitely had the pace here, despite the small crash this morning,” said Scott. “Unfortunately the timing was wrong, in a session that was more of a sprint than qualifying is normally. I put in a fast lap right at the start but, unfortunately, Taka got a lap behind me, which was all he needed to take pole. I thought I could come back, but then the rain arrived and that was it. Anyway, I’m happy enough with the front row, especially as I’m ahead of Espargaro and Rabat on the grid. We also got some time on the bike in the wet this afternoon, which could be important given that there’s a good chance of rain tomorrow.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing

Scott Redding dominated proceedings on the opening day at Le Mans, topping the timesheet in both 45-minute free practice sessions.

Scott wasted no time stamping his authority on the French Grand Prix, setting the fastest time out of the box this morning, as he laid down the gauntlet to his championship rivals.

This afternoon’s second free practice session again saw the 20-year-old Briton controlling things from the front, with only Tom Lüthi and Julian Simon able to close to within half a second of Scott’s time.

“I like the Le Mans circuit, so my confidence was high coming into this weekend, especially off the back of three good results at tracks that were either new or a little unkind to me in the past,” declared Scott. “I’m feeling good on the bike here; we’ve had a couple of small issues during practice, but nothing that we haven’t been able to sort out quickly. The lap times today came without really pushing hard, so I know there’s more to come in qualifying if I need it. But this is Le Mans, so who knows what the weather will throw at us tomorrow. It could be dry or it could be wet, either way I think we’re in a good way here with the bike and the set-up.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing

Marc VDS Racing has announced the launch of its new line of rider merchandise, and that of course means Scott Redding merchandise for fans for the British rider.

The Marc VDS online store is carrying some nice looking gear for the 2013 season as far as Scott is concerned with a cap, a rather cool looking raglan style hoodie and two t-shirt designs.

You can pick out and buy your Scott Redding official merchandise here – and you can also get official merchandise for the other Marc VDS riders Mika Kallio and Livio Loi here.