Photo Copyright: Ben Davies for smartfotos.co.uk

With Laverty continuing his progress of developing the Rapid Solicitors and Minxflix.com-sponsored PBM machine, the 31-year-old Ulsterman qualified in an impressive top twenty placing, just ahead of 24-year-old Colombian Hernandez who started in 23rd place on the Rapid Solicitors and Minxflix.com-sponsored Aprilia ART.

With wet conditions greeting the riders, it was always going to be a difficult task but a great start by Hernandez saw him up to 17th with Laverty in 22nd which is where they stayed for the opening half dozen laps before Laverty moved up a place.

Before long, the two PBM machines were circulating in formation with Hernandez, from Medelln, dropping to 18th but just one place ahead of team-mate Laverty, from Toome, as they scrapped it out in the Claiming Rules Teams (CRT) class.

Each rider moved up a respective place to 17th and 18th on lap 16 as they homed in on the points but on lap 20 of the 28 laps, Hernandez suffered a technical problem causing him to retire to the pits. That left Laverty to battle on alone and despite getting lapped for the first time this season, he brought the machine home to its fourth finish in as many races to continue his 100% finishing rate as he claimed a battling 17th on a drying track.

Despite not adding to their points score, both Laverty and Hernandez remain tied on points in 18th place in the MotoGP World Championship and equal fifth in the CRT standings going into the next round at Mugello in Italy next month. PBM remain in seventh place in the Constructors Championship in their debut season with their brand new British-built machine.

Michael Laverty: “I’m disappointed with the result; we had a good pace in the dry, but today was a big learning experience as I hadn’t ridden the Bridgestone wet tyres or the PBM bike properly in the rain. I felt like a fish out of water in warm up, but the team improved the electronics for the race and I got more comfortable as the race went on. Once I understood the tyres I was actually lapping as fast as the top CRT guys but I had lost so much time in the early laps that a good result was impossible. The main positive from today is that I know we can be competitive when the rain arrives in future.”

Source: PBM UK

With rain falling at the start of the race, it was Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso who got the holeshot to lead into the first corner ahead of Pedrosa, the two riders swapping the lead a few times before Pedrosa made his race-winning pass on lap fourteen. Once in the lead Pedrosa held his position at the front to win the race by 4.863 seconds – his first MotoGP victory in France. In second place was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, the British rider overcoming the pain of a leg injury to claim his highest ever placing in MotoGP ahead of Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, who made a great comeback after a slow start to take the final podium position. First of the CRT riders across the finish line was Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro in thirteenth place.

Cool and wet conditions greeted the grid for the French Grand Prix, with a track temperature of just 14°C recorded at the start of the twenty-eight lap race. The conditions resulted in all twenty-four riders selecting the softer wet tyre options front and rear for the highest level of warm-up performance, although some riders went out on the sighting lap with the harder option wets, before changing to the soft option on the grid due to the cold conditions. As the race progressed the rain ceased and the sun started to shine, causing a dry line to appear on turns two, seven and eight which caused variable grip levels in different sections of the circuit.

Pedrosa now leads his Repsol Honda teammate Marquez in the MotoGP championshop standings by six points, while a further nine points back and third in the standings is Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo.

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Extra-soft, Soft Rear: Extra-soft (Symmetric), Soft, Medium (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)

Weather: Wet. Ambient 14-16°C; Track 14-20°C (Bridgestone measurement)

Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department “Well done to Dani for his second win of the season in what were difficult riding conditions at Le Mans, and I’d also like to congratulate Cal on his best ever MotoGP result at the home race for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. We always knew that Le Mans can present variable weather, so despite the rain today which made it quite challenging for the riders, I am happy that we still had an exciting contest. Another good crowd was present this year at Le Mans and the many fans that braved today’s wet conditions were rewarded with a fantastic MotoGP race.”

Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Today’s race conditions made it quite difficult for riders with a very cold and wet track at the beginning of the race causing low grip, before a dry line appeared on some corners towards the end of the race which caused different grip levels on various sections of the circuit. This is the kind of wet race that really tests the riders and so our wet tyres had to handle the rapidly changing track conditions, particularly as the riders did not experience fully wet conditions until the beginning of the race and so perhaps didn’t have the ideal wet setup for the race. As we expected, Le Mans once again delivered a big variety in track conditions and our tyre allocation for this race weekend gave options for every situation.”

Source: Bridgestone Motorsport

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

Cal Crutchlow produced the ride of his MotoGP career in Le Mans today to claim a heroic podium in the home race of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.
Just 24 hours after a heavy practice crash left him with a fracture in his right leg, the British rider showed amazing skill, concentration and courage to finish second in a 28-lap race run in the toughest conditions imaginable.

Crutchlow was the lead Yamaha rider home at the end of a race that started on a perilously slippery and wet surface after heavy rain fell in the build-up. Visibility and calculating grip levels were major early challenges but Crutchlow quickly gained his confidence and he sliced through the field with some outstanding overtakes.

The 27-year-old stormed through from seventh to second with measured moves on reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso, an impressive feat considering how tough it was to master constantly changing conditions and grip levels on a rapidly drying track.

Crutchlow’s career best MotoGP result and first rostrum of 2013 was secured on lap 24 when he attacked former Tech 3 teammate Dovizioso and today’s outstanding performance moved the former World Supersport Champion into fourth place in the World Championship standings with four of 18 rounds completed.

A career best MotoGP result to date was also being hailed on the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team garage after Bradley Smith raced his YZR-M1 to a determined ninth position.

The slippery track surface had an immediate impact on Smith’s race. He suffered a big rear tyre slide while accelerating off the line and it was only the lightning reflexes of the 22-year-old that saved him from a fall.

He dropped right to the back of the field but despite only having very limited experience of the YZR-M1 in wet conditions, Smith’s recent attempts to smoothen his riding style proved vital this afternoon.

Smith quickly established a fast rhythm and as his confidence grew he was able to deliver a fantastic fight back into the top 10. His rousing recovery to ninth moves him to the brink of the top 10 in the World Championship classification on 17 points.

Cal Crutchlow 2nd- 55 points:
“I’m really happy to get my best ever result in MotoGP and the whole team did an incredible job and deserves this result. We showed our fast pace in the dry, we showed our pace in the wet and I think everybody is aware we are not here through luck. It’s even better and more important because this is the home race for Tech 3 and Monster Energy sponsors the event. So to be the best and only Yamaha on the podium feels really good. My start was not the best and it took me a bit of time to get temperature into the tyres. But once I managed that I felt really comfortable. When I saw Andrea and Dani opening a small gap to Valentino I had to make a move because I was afraid they would be too far ahead to try and catch later in the race. And when I saw Marquez recovering time on my pit board I had to pass Andrea otherwise he might have caught both of us during the last laps. I’m really happy with how things went, especially after the crash yesterday. The wet track obviously put less stress on my body but it was tough riding injured in such tough conditions. From now on I just hope we can be injury free and go to Mugello to put on the same show as we did here today.”

Bradley Smith 9th – 17 points:
“Today was a really good learning experience. I’d hardly ridden the YZR-M1 in the rain before, so to get 28 laps under my belt in really tricky conditions was obviously an experience that taught me a lot. During the race I was able to ride a lot smoother and I hope I can carry over something from this experience to the dry in the future. I’m a little bit disappointed with the start of the race. I had a problem with the clutch in the warm up but we were sure it was just because this was my first start in the wet but apparently it was not. But after the first 10 laps to the end of the race I had a very good pace and I’m happy with the improvement made during the whole weekend with ninth position in qualifying and also ninth in the race. That’s my best MotoGP result and gives my confidence another lift, so now I’m really looking forward to going to Mugello, which is a track I can’t wait to ride a MotoGP bike on. Congratulations also to Cal. He rode an awesome race and in an important race for Tech 3 and Monster Energy it was great to see both of us having such a positive result.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager:
“That was a very special race for everybody connected to the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. Seeing Cal get a fantastic second place in France and with Monster Energy a title sponsor of the event is incredible because there is always quite a lot of pressure on us to perform. I remember in similar conditions last year both of our guys were fighting for the podium but ended up in the gravel, so I did not feel too comfortable before the start of the race. It has not been an easy weekend with the weather conditions and Cal’s big crash from yesterday, and we even had some doubt that he would be able to participate in qualifying but he did a great job. It was easy to make a mistake in those very difficult conditions but the way he cut through the field gave Tech 3 fans a lot to cheer in the race. Cal is doing an amazing job this season and today once again he showed what a top talent he is. He took his opportunity to get a podium and to get a career best result was a great reward for him and all his crew. I’m also very pleased with the great job Bradley did. He had another strong weekend and was improving in every session and he recovered incredibly well from a bad start. He hasn’t ridden the YZR-M1 much in the rain but he built up his pace and confidence and the most important thing was for him to finish and gain some vital experience on this conditions. I’m sure Monster Energy got some great exposure from Cal and Bradley and now we can’t wait for the next challenge in Mugello.”

Source: Tech3 Communications

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.”

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