2013/5/19. Race time

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.


MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE MotoGP Race Classification 
2013 Le Mans, Sunday, May 19, 2013 
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap 
1 25 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 142.6 49'17.707 
2 20 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 142.3 +4.863 
3 16 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 142.2 +6.949 
4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 142.1 +10.087 
5 11 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 141.7 +18.471 
6 10 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 141.4 +23.561 
7 9 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 141.2 +27.961 
8 8 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ignite Pramac Racing Ducati 140.6 +40.775 
9 7 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 140.6 +41.407 
10 6 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 139.7 +1'00.995


 Pos.   Rider  Bike  Nation  Points
 1  Dani PEDROSA  Honda  SPA  83
 2  Marc  MARQUEZ  Honda  SPA  77
 3  Jorge LORENZO  Yamaha  SPA  66
 4  Cal CRUTCHLOW  Yamaha  GBR  65
 5  Valentino ROSSI  Yamaha  ITA  47
 6  Andrea DOVIZIOSO   Honda  ITA  39
 7  Alvaro BAUTISTA  Ducati  SPA  38
 8  Nicky HAYDEN  Ducati  USA  35
 9  Aleix ESPARGARO  ART  SPA  20
 10  Andrea IANNONE  Ducati   ITA  18

 


2013/5/18, Qualifying practice

Marc Marquez collected his second MotoGP™ pole position for this weekend¢s Monster Energy Grand Prix de France at Le Mans as the championship leader beat current title holder Jorge Lorenzo by just three hundredths of a second and Andrea Dovizioso celebrated his first front row for Ducati Team. 

The majority of those in the paddock expected rainfall for qualifying, but this was not to be the case as a steady breeze graced the historic Le Mans venue. Delivering an impressive lap time of 1¢33.187, Marquez looked to have convincingly sealed his second pole after Texas but was challenged hard by Lorenzo. With Dovizioso taking his first front row since Malaysia 2012, today¢s result marks the first time that the Honda, Yamaha and Ducati factory teams have shared Row 1 since Spain 2012. 


Monster Yamaha Tech 3¢s Cal Crutchlow came back from a heavy crash at La Chapelle in final practice to achieve the fourth best grid spot. Having already suffered two accidents in Jerez a fortnight ago, he later went to the Medical Centre for treatment and it was confirmed that he had suffered a fracture to the tibial plateau, which affects the overall stability and motion of the knee. He will undergo a further medical examination on Sunday morning to decide whether or not he is able to race at Le Mans. Crutchlow would share the second row with LCR Honda MotoGP¢s Stefan Bradl and Dani Pedrosa, who was forced to rush back to the pits with less than ten minutes to go after repeating an error made by Repsol Honda Team partner Marquez (but in final practice for the latter) and falling at Turn 3. Pedrosa later commented that a bump in the track had caused him to loose the front. 
Yamaha Factory Racing¢s Valentino Rossi hopes to become the fourth winner from four races this weekend, but could muster only eighth in qualifying and will be flanked on Row 3 by GO&FUN Honda Gresini¢s Alvaro Bautista and Tech 3¢s Bradley Smith, who with ninth place equals his best grid position of the season so far. Rossi commented he struggles to get the most out of the tyres for one hot-lap, yet that he was content with his race-pace. Nicky Hayden completed the top ten for Ducati.


MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 
MotoGP Qualifying Nr. 2 Classification 2013 Le Mans, 
Saturday, May 18, 2013 
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 
1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 301.9 1'33.187
2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 302.6 1'33.217 0.030 / 0.030 
3 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 299.2 1'33.603 0.416 / 0.386 
4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 301.1 1'33.609 0.422 / 0.006 
5 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 303.2 1'33.634 0.447 / 0.025 
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 303.1 1'33.639 0.452 / 0.005 
7 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 302.1 1'33.984 0.797 / 0.345 
8 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 299.2 1'34.009 0.822 / 0.025 
9 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 302.4 1'34.222 1.035 / 0.213 
10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 297.1 1'34.242 1.055 / 0.020





2013/5/17

  Standings  MotoGP  2013                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
 Pos.   Rider  Bike  Nation  Points
 1  Marc MARQUEZ  Honda  SPA  61
 2  Dani PEDROSA  Honda  SPA  58
 3  Jorge LORENZO  Yamaha  SPA  57
 4  Valentino ROSSI  Yamaha  SPA  43
 5  Cal CRUTCHLOW  Yamaha  GBR  35
 6  Alvaro BAUTISTA   Honda  SPA  28
 7  Andrea DOVIZIOSO  Ducati  ITA  26
 8  Nicky HAYDEN  Ducati  USA  24
 9  Aleix ESPARGARO  ART  SPA  17
 10  Andrea Iannone  Ducati   ITA  13


      Fresh from his win in the Spanish Grand Prix, Dani Pedrosa topped both Friday practice sessions at Le Mans at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, with the Repsol Honda Team rider leading teammate Marc Marquez and Yamaha Factory Racing¢s Valentino Rossi, as less than three tenths of a second covered the top five riders. 

Heading into the afternoon session, there was a sense of urgency to seal top ten positions for Q2 Qualifying, not only because a small shower had preceded the session, but also as rain is forecast to hit the iconic venue on Saturday. Pedrosa led with 1¢34.035 as the top eight riders of the afternoon beat the leading lap time of the morning period. Behind Marquez and Rossi, Yamaha¢s world champion Jorge Lorenzo and LCR Honda MotoGP¢s Stefan Bradl completed the top five. 

Lorenzo was not particularly happy with his session, hoping that set-up changes overnight will help him tomorrow. Cal Crutchlow led the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 charge from sixth position as teammate Bradley Smith took a pair of almost identical trips through the Dunlop gravel trap across the opening couple of sessions. Crutchlow was another displeased Yamaha rider, not only as he was struggling with chatter and overheating brakes, but also as he woke up with a cold this morning. There was a big moment for Energy T.I. Pramac Racing¢s Andrea Iannone, who ended the day in 12th place after suffering an accident on the exit of Raccordement, the final corner of the track. He was fortunately not badly hurt, and was able to finish the session on his number-two bike. 

On the Ignite Pramac Racing bike, Michele Pirro is standing in for the recovering Ben Spies, while Karel Abraham is back in action for Cardion AB Motoracing. The top ten was rounded out by Ducati Team duo Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden plus GO&FUN Honda Gresini¢s Alvaro Bautista and Power Electronics Aspar¢s Aleix Espargaro - the leading CRT runner. 


MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 

MotoGP Free Practice Nr. 2 Classification 2013 Le Mans, 
Friday, May 17, 2013 
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 
1 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 308.6 1'34.035
2 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 304.4 1'34.169 0.134 / 0.134 
3 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 302.9 1'34.173 0.138 / 0.004 
4 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 305.6 1'34.201 0.166 / 0.028 
5 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 305.5 1'34.299 0.264 / 0.098 
6 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 304.5 1'34.512 0.477 / 0.213 
7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 302.0 1'34.578 0.543 / 0.066 
8 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 298.5 1'34.590 0.555 / 0.012 
9 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 306.5 1'34.739 0.704 / 0.149 
10 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 288.0 1'35.045 1.010 / 0.306