DANI Pedrosa today (19 May) took his second win in succession in typically difficult wet conditions at Le Mans for the French round of the MotoGP World Championship. He crossed the line with a comfortable lead of almost five seconds from Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, who put in his best ever MotoGP performance despite carrying a fractured tibia from a nasty accident in qualifying.
It was Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso who appeared to have the early pace, leading off the line at the only circuit where Ducati has had consistent success in recent years. For much of the race he would swap positions with Pedrosa for the lead, but ultimately as the track dried the Italian could do nothing to hold off the ever-improving Crutchlow, and hard charging 20 year-old Spanish wonder-boy Marc Marquez.
It looked to be a harsh return to reality for Marquez after a fairy tale opening to his maiden MotoGP campaign. The Honda rider slipped down the order in the opening laps and really struggled to find grip and speed in the wet conditions. As the track dried, however, he found his rhythm, and was by far the fastest man on-track in the last few laps, closing down first Hayden – who also had a strong ride on the factory Ducati, and then finally Dovizioso who put in a great performance but once again couldn’t maintain podium-winning pace for a full race distance.
It was a day to forget for the Factory Yamaha team, as reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo faded dramatically after briefly running in second position, ultimately crossing the line in seventh, while Valentino Rossi crashed out of fourth place on lap 17, but re-joined to pick up just four championship points in 12th.
If Crutchlow’s superb second place wasn’t enough for British fans – Scott Redding also took his best ever result in Moto2 today, winning his first race in the class as all of his main championship rivals crashed out. He now leads the Moto2 standings by 24 points.
MotoGP race results from Le Mans, France
1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 49m 17.707s
2. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) +4.863
3. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) +6.949
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) +10.087
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP13) +18.471
6. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) +23.561
7. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) +27.961
8. Michele Pirro ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) +40.775
9. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) +41.407
10. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) +1:00.995
11. Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) +1:05.110
12. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) +1:16.368
13. Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) +1:24.200
14. Danilo Petrucci ITA Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT) +1:25.726
15. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (ART CRT) +1:32.111
16. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1:40.602
17. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART CRT) +1 Lap
18. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1 Lap
19. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +1 Lap
DNF:
Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) +8 Laps
Randy De Puniet FRA Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) +13 Laps
Lukas Pesek CZE Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT) +13 Laps
Claudio Corti ITA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) +21 Laps
Bryan Staring AUS Go&Fun Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT) +27 Laps
