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

It was a solid race result for John McPhee today at Le Mans in less than perfect conditions.

Today’s race was run under cloudy skies and on a damp track (with a dry line emerging after first few laps). John finished 11th (+54.512), with teammate Jack Miller 12th (+51.592).

John was up to 9th on lap 6 and looking good for a top 10 finish. He was then dropped down the order after another suspect move by Alexis Masbou (who took John out on the penultimate lap at Qatar on).

John struggled for pace over last few laps and was being reeled in rapidly by Miller over last two or three laps. However he managed to hang on for 11th. The podium was Maverick Vinales (Calvo / KTM), Alex Rins (Monlau / KTM), +1.264, Luis Salom (Ajo / KTM) +1.387.

John McPhee
“I’m certainly happy enough with the weekend. A top 10 finish would have been nice, but still some good points in the bag with P11. Now I’m looking forward to Mugello in 2 weeks.”

Towards the end of today’s qualifying session in Le Mans, Ambrogio Racing’s Danny Webb suffered a big highsider that saw him crash onto the track heavily.
Limping slightly, Danny was able to walk away from the crash but had to see a doctor to be checked out for possible injuries. A scan revealed a mild concussion and a broken foot which unfortunately means he won’t be able to compete in tomorrow’s race.

At this point in time Danny is expected to be fit to race at Mugello in two weeks time.

From all of us here at motogpbrits.com: Get well soon Danny!

John McPhee continued his hard work in today’s sessions at Le Mans, and despite being classified in 19th in Qualifying is showing a very good pace, with many riders separated by very little time and having spent much of the session a lot further up the field, only getting caught up in traffic towards the end when crucial fast laps needed to go in.

Nonetheless, John is happy with progress and with his overall pace and performance and is focused on making sure he is well prepared for the possible rain that is forecast for tomorrow.

John McPhee
“Today we made big improvements to my riding and also the bike. I think we made really good progress and are now much closer to the front! It’s nice to be not too far away from pole position lap time wise but the lap times are just so close that I finished a disappointing 19th! I had good pace throughout the session and for the majority was inside the top 10 but it was in the last 5 minutes when it counts the most that I got caught up with some slower riders and started to make some mistakes.
My start is going to be really important tomorrow because I am confident I can run with the group fighting for top 10 if all goes well on the first few laps.
The forecast is rain for tomorrow and it’s just started now so tomorrow could be very interesting. I’ll need to work hard in warm up to try and get a wet setup and then see what the weather does for the race!”

Source: John McPhee official website / Vroom Media

25th in FP1 and 28th in FP2, John is pretty happy with his progress, and is confident that the results belie the potential this weekend, as he’s not been concentrating simply on setting a fast time but on essential set-up work to feel properly comfortable with the bike.

John had this to say:
“I’m feeling okay after day 1. Although the time sheets don’t look too promising I am feeling fairly confident going into free practice 3 and qualifying tomorrow. I had to Learn the circuit in FP1 and in FP2 I had some things to test before we put new tyres on and unfortunately just got caught out with the rain and didn’t manage to put a proper lap time in.
The feeling from the bike is coming much better and my lap times are getting quicker lap by lap without having to put my neck on the line, pushing for the time. Overall I am quite happy with progress and look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings! The forecast is rain so that might mix things around a little!”

Hopefully the concentration on a good feeling with the bike will put John in good stead for the final, crucial FP3 and Qualifying sessions tomorrow.

Photo Copyright: Ben Davies for smartfotos.co.uk

The Le Mans Bugatti circuit, very different from the much longer 24-hour car track, returned to the GP calendar in 2000 after an absence of four years, during which time the French GP was run at Circuit Paul Ricard in Provence. Since 2000 the event has built a huge following in bike-mad France, with tens of thousands of bikers making the two-hour trip to the Sarthe region from Paris.

Le Mans underwent safety modifications before the 1999 GP, partly as a result of Alberto Puig’s injurious turn-one crash during practice for the 1995 French GP. The daunting right hander was tightened and the Musée left-hander was also modified to lower speeds. Further modifications have been carried out during subsequent years in an ongoing program of improvements.

The track’s character is very stop-and-go, with plenty of slow turns where braking and acceleration performance are primordial. Riders and their engineers therefore concentrate on honing their machines’ stability during braking, as well as improving rear-end traction for the numerous hairpin exits.

After Le Mans the MotoGP circus heads south to one of the season’s most popular events, the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello on June 2.

Danny Webb: “I’m looking forward to getting to Le Mans and getting to work. Jerez wasn’t a good weekend for me, but that’s behind me now and forgotten about, so I’m fully fit and ready to go at Le Mans. My feeling is that the Honda will work well at this track, so I know that I can have a good result.”

Source: Honda Racing

MotoGP

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.

Moto2

The Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in Le Mans sets the scene for another Moto2™ battle, as Tuenti HP 40’s Tito Rabat and Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding fight it out for top spot in the championship.

Rabat, fresh from his first ever victory last weekend, will be looking to continue that good form, though will be hard pushed by Redding, who is looking ever-more like one of the championship favourites. Whether Tuenti HP 40’s Pol Espargaro will be in podium contention remains to be seen, with the Spaniard not content with the new specification front tyre that was brought in from the Jerez round.

He will be hard pushed by Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s countryman Nico Terol, who will be aiming for his second victory of the season on the Suter machine. Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter has been a silent performer so far this season, and will undoubtedly be hovering close to a podium place, while Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami will hope to take his outright pace in practice through to the race.

Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio, Desguaces La Torre SAG Maptaq’s Xavier Simeon, Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco and Terol’s teammate Jordi Torres will no doubt be top-ten contenders, whilst Tech 3 Racing’s Louis Rossi will hope to discover some of the magic that helped him win last year’s Moto3™ race in his home town. Gino Rea will be returning to the class as a wildcard with his own Gino Rea Race Team on an FTR, whilst Petronas Raceline Malaysia will field a wildcard in the form of Hafizh Syahrin, who did very well in the Malaysian GP last year.

Moto3

Le Mans is the setting for another round of on-track sparring as the Moto3™ grid arrives for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France this weekend with Team Calvo’s Maverick Viñales leading the championship ahead of Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom.

Viñales and Salom look in fine form, whilst Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Rins will be aiming to make up for his crash in Jerez. He will however remain the man to beat, having been one of the quickest men across the race weekends so far. Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger, who scored a podium in Jerez, will be looking for more outright race-pace, as he felt his podium had been gifted to him, rather than his bike showing the competitiveness he seeks.

Salom’s teammate Zulfahmi Khairuddin will be aiming for his first podium of the year, whilst Ambrogio Racing’s Brad Binder comes off the back of his best result to date in fourth. The South African is looking strong so far this year, yet will face a challenge from Miguel Oliveira, who is currently spearheading the Mahindra Racing project in seventh in the championship.

Avant Tecno’s Niklas Ajo, Redox RW Racing GP’s Jakub Kornfeil and Mahindra’s Efren Vazquez will also be ones to watch. Two Frenchman will be taking part as wildcards in the form of ACR’s Christophe Arciero on a Suter, and Marc VDS Racing Team’s Jules Danilo, who will line up next to regular Livio Loi.

Source: motogp.com

MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa clinched his maiden victory of this year’s MotoGP™ World Championship, winning the Gran Premio bwin de España on Sunday, as teammate Marc Marquez spiced up proceedings by barging past Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo for second place in the final corner.

Lorenzo had been the rider to beat for much of the weekend, comfortably sealing his second pole position of the season on Saturday, yet Pedrosa overtook him at the start of the 27-lap race. The lead was immediately snatched back, but Pedrosa made the move stick as he passed at Dry Sack on Lap 6. As the Yamaha rider dropped into the clutches of Marquez, Pedrosa maintained a steady pace en route to his first win since Valencia last year.

Marquez’s race was a dramatic one, having entered as the joint championship leader with Lorenzo. Having quickly demoted Valentino Rossi to fourth place after the Yamaha rider overtook at the end of Lap 1, the 20-year-old charged up to the back of Lorenzo and attempted several different lines in a bid to distract the current title holder. The eventual move came at the newly-named Jorge Lorenzo Corner at the end of the very last lap, where Marquez forcefully made his way past his compatriot, leaving the latter in a less than happy mood in Parc Fermé.

Rossi had a lonely ride to fourth place on the second Yamaha Factory bike, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow overcoming GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista for a top five spot at the end of a difficult weekend, which featured two sizeable accidents on Saturday. Ducati Team duo Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso made the top eight while test rider Michele Pirro enjoyed a strong first ride of the campaign to 11th on the squad’s GP13 Lab chassis.

Hector Barbera and Avintia Blusens impressed by qualifying tenth on the lead CRT machine, but on race day the Spaniard fell to 12th as Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro took top CRT honours for the third time in as many races, finishing ninth from Tech 3’s Bradley Smith. As Avintia’s Hiroshi Aoyama tumbled to 18th in the closing stages, Michael Laverty scored the first points for PBM’s own-built bike by coming home 13th and ahead of Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards, who also scored for the first time in 2013.

Five riders failed to make the end of the race, notably Stefan Bradl who compounded a tough three days for himself and LCR Honda MotoGP. The German, like Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone, retired on the fourth lap. Iannone’s teammate Ben Spies did not compete, advised by doctors to rest and solve a problem with a pectoral muscle, while Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham pulled out after Friday due to suffering too much pain with his broken right collarbone.

Moto2

Tito Rabat convincingly won his first-ever race at the Gran Premio bwin de España today, snatching the Moto2™ championship lead, after starting from his first pole position. Former points leader Scott Redding finished second as Rabat’s Tuenti HP 40 teammate Pol Espargaro stole the final podium position from Takaaki Nakagami.

Rabat held the advantage from Redding as the red lights went out, and went on to make the victory look easy as he won by over four seconds, despite the pressure of a home crowd. Redding’s ride to second place was a calm one, as the Marc VDS Racing Team rider looks to achieve consistency across the 2013 season. Espargaro, a pre-season favourite for many, was desperate to make up ground after crashing out at the Circuit of the Americas two weeks ago. Running fourth and catching Italtrans Racing Team’s Nakagami, the former was held up by QMMF Racing Team’s Rafid Topan Sucipto, who was running a lap down. He caught Nakagami again with only a handful of laps to go, passing on the penultimate tour as the Japanese rider made an unforced error exiting Michelin curve. After the race, Sucipto apologised to Espargaro for delaying his progress.

As Nakagami dropped to fourth and was unable to re-pass Espargaro, Texas winner Nico Terol ended the day fifth for Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 while Desguaces La Torre Maptaq’s Xavier Simeon overhauled Aspar’s Jordi Torres to end a spirited battle in a career-best sixth position. Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter, Blusens Avintia’s Toni Elias and Desguaces La Torre SAG’s Marcel Schrotter completed the first ten, while Tom Luthi finished 11th on his return with Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing. Two places further back, Came Iodaracing Project’s Johann Zarco had fought up to 13th position from 30th on the starting grid.

Several riders were caught out, including Britons Danny Kent and Kyle Smith, but Mika Kallio’s fall was arguably the most significant. The Finn had been joint second in the standings heading into the race, but crashed his Marc VDS Racing Team bike at Dry Sack corner while involved in a multiple-rider battle over fifth position.

Moto3

Maverick Viñales has won for the first time this season, marking three Moto3™ victors from as many races. The Team Calvo rider, who overtook Alex Rins for the lead, was declared the winner when red flags flew for the second consecutive race.

On Saturday, Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Rins stormed to his second pole position in a row off the back of a maiden career victory in Texas. He defended from Viñales off the start line, but lost the lead when the latter slipped through at Dry Sack on the third tour. Pushing hard to stay in touch and doing so successfully until Lap 12, Rins lost the front end of his bike and crashed at Alex Criville corner.

This left Viñales in front with a small gap back to KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom, who had been joint championship leader with Rins heading into this weekend. The second of the pair caught the leader and looked set to make a move when the right moment came, but was left frustrated when the race was stopped at just past two-thirds distance. Less irritated was Livio Loi, as the Belgian scored on his debut with Marc VDS Racing Team less than two weeks after his 16th birthday.

The race-ending incident came on Lap 17, with the red flags flying for the second time in as many races while doctors attended to CIP Moto3’s Frenchmen Alan Techer. Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Marquez, Mahindra Racing ‘s Miguel Oliveira, Caretta Technology – RTG’s Jack Miller, GO&FUN Gresini Moto3’s Niccolo Antonelli, Team Calvo’s Ana Carrasco and Kiefer Racing’s Florian Alt also suffered crashes or collisions, but all riders escaped unharmed.

Viñales’ victory is his first since Mugello last year and comes at the same track where he suffered the pre-season testing crash which injured his right hand. He now takes the championship lead, having led home Salom and Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger who made up for his below-par performance in Qualifying on Saturday.

Ambrogio Racing’s Brad Binder was the main prophet of the Oliveira-Miller clash, finishing fourth from Redox RW Racing GP’s Jakub Kornfeil, who has enjoyed an extremely strong weekend considering that he missed all of Friday Free Practice in order to take compulsory exams. Avant Tecno’s Niklas Ajo avoided the trouble to finish sixth as Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin, Mahindra’s Efren Vazquez, San Carlo Team Italia’s Romano Fenati and Ognetta-Rivacold’s Alexis Masbou completed the top ten.

Source: motogp.com

John McPhee claimed his first Grand Prix points of the season with a battling ride from 17th on the grid to 11th in the second red-flagged race of the season at Jerez this morning.

The Racing Steps Foundation-backed Caretta Technology RTG rider was up to 10th and challenging Team Italia’s Romano Fenati for ninth when the race was stopped on lap 17. But in accordance with Grand Prix regulations, the race result was wound back to the finishing order at the end of lap 15, dropping the frustrated Scot back down to 11th.

The red flags came out after CIP’s Alan Techer – one of numerous casualties caught out by tyre degradation and the steadily increasing track temperature – was treated by doctors at the trackside. Up to that point, McPhee had been in a tense, six-rider dogfight for what would have been a well-deserved place in the top 10.

Round four of the championship takes place at the historic French circuit on May 19.

John McPhee: “It’s nice to get a half decent result after the disappointment of Austin and Qatar,” said McPhee. “It’s just a shame 10th didn’t count in the end. But I’ve got some points on the board at last which I can hopefully add to when we get to LeMans. It’s not I circuit I know but hopefully I can carry the momentum over from here.”

Source: Racing Steps Foundation
Photo Copyright Ben Davies for smartfotos.co.uk