Moto GP

[Rev004]

Well who would have thought that Rossi would have had such a horrid weekend falls off the a ride through not much more could have gone wrong. Look at that leader board now it is going to get even better one would have to say.

So here is the details and some of the reports from the race so enjoy..

Lorenzo takes dramatic victory at wet-dry Le Mans
Sunday, 17 May 2009

In a hectic French MotoGP race, which started on a wet surface and was completed on slicks, Jorge Lorenzo judged conditions perfectly to take his second win of the year.


Spanish star Jorge Lorenzo found the perfect remedy for his Jerez frustrations at Le Mans, bouncing straight back from his DNF in Spain with a brilliant win at the Grand Prix de France in highly difficult conditions - to return to the top of the standings.

Lorenzo took the lead on the first lap and shot away at the front, building up a big advantage on wet tyres as the track dried quickly, eventually being the last rider to change onto slicks in his first ever ‘flag-to-flag†contest and riding superbly on both sets of tyres to win by a 17 second margin.

Another brilliant effort by Hayate Racingâ€s Marco Melandri saw him cross the line second for his first podium since 2007, having been unsure of his MotoGP future over the winter.

Repsol Hondaâ€s Dani Pedrosa hunted down his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso on the final lap for third place to secure his third consecutive podium result.

A nightmare for Valentino Rossi saw him slip from first to joint second in the standings after a chaotic race. The World Champion swapped bikes three times, suffered a crash and was given a ride through for speeding in pit lane before eventually finishing last.

Australians Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) and Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) were fifth and sixth respectively, with Stoner drawing level with Rossi in second place in the championship.

Veterans Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who mounted a comeback from sixteenth early in the race, and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) would have ultimately hoped for better than their seventh and eighth places.

A solid performance for James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) saw the Englishman take a step in the right direction in ninth and Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completed the top ten.

Lorenzo's advantage at the top of the standings is just one point, ahead of title favourites Rossi and Stoner who sit jointly in second position with 65 points each. Mugello, one of Rossi's favourite venues and his home circuit, will host the next round, the Gran Premio d'Italia Alice, the fifth date on the 2009 MotoGP World Championship calendar.


GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE
MotoGP Race Classification
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Total time Km/h Gap
1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 47'52.678 146.848
2 20 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 48'10.388 145.948 17.710
3 16 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 48'12.571 145.838 19.893
4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 48'13.133 145.810 20.455
5 11 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 48'23.217 145.303 30.539
6 10 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 48'30.140 144.957 37.462
7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 48'32.869 144.822 40.191
8 8 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 48'38.099 144.562 45.421
9 7 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 48'42.985 144.320 50.307
10 6 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 48'45.896 144.177 53.218
11 5 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 48'46.228 144.161 53.550
12 4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 48'49.325 144.008 56.647
13 3 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 48'49.366 144.006 56.688
14 2 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 49'03.977 143.291 1'11.299
15 1 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 49'08.063 143.093 1'15.385
16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 49'28.685 131.949 2 Lap

Not classified
36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 20'47.302 17 Lap



World Championship

MotoGP
Pos. Rider Nation Team Points
1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 66
2 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 65
3 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 65
4 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 57
5 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team 43
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 43
7 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 35
8 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 31
9 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 27
10 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 26
11 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 21
12 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 20
13 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 17
14 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing 16
15 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team 9
16 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 8
17 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 8
18 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing 3



Rossi reflects on complicated day
Sunday, 17 May 2009

A crash, a ride through penalty, three bike changes and no points at Le Mans left Valentino Rossi with plenty on his mind.


It is hard to imagine how World Champion Valentino Rossi could have had a more complex race to deal with at the Grand Prix de France on Sunday.

The Fiat Yamaha rider went into pit lane on four separate occasions at Le Mans, three times to change bikes and once for a ride through penalty, after he got his strategy wrong for once and suffered a costly fifth lap crash having made an early switch onto slicks.

A fortnight ahead of his home race at his beloved Mugello circuit the Italian star slipped to joint second in the standings as his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo snatched top spot in the championship race by one point, with an accomplished win.

Reviewing Sundayâ€s proceedings, Rossi commented, “I had difficulties from the start and I really could not ride my bike to its best. By the fourth lap I felt that I was quite slow and that I couldnâ€t ride as I wanted. I decided to change bikes early because usually this strategy pays off. I knew that I had to warm the tyres up a little bit but I crashed anyway in that corner because at that point the track was still wet and I just didnâ€t ride into it in a calm enough manner.”

He continued, “Luckily I was able to make it back to the pits and then later I changed again, but the rule says that if you change the bike again then you have to use one wet tyre, and so this is what we did. When I started that time, the pit-limiter on my bike was not on and so I was given a ride-through for speeding, but by that time it was too late for our race anyway.”

Summarising the round four results overall, Rossi added, “Weâ€ve had problems throughout the entire weekend with the set-up of the bike and I was just hoping that I could stay with the riders in front and get some important points for the championship. Now we go to Mugello, my home GP, where I will perhaps be even more motivated than usual!”


Seasonâ€s best for Vermeulen in France
Sunday, 17 May 2009

At a track where he has a strong record Chris Vermeulen got his best result of 2009 so far at Le Mans on Sunday.


The Rizla Suzuki riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi review their Grand Prix de France experiences, after both concluded the weekend in the top ten in a difficult wet-dry race at Le Mans.

Chris Vermeulen – 6th
"It was a really difficult race - which I am sure everyone else will say. We started on wets and we hadn't done any wet testing so it was really tough for the engineers to get the bike set up for the conditions. They did a really good job and the bike felt reasonable, but if it had been a practice session we would certainly have come in to make changes. When the track started to dry out I saw Rossi crash and thought that it wasn't dry enough for slicks yet, so I stayed out a bit longer - probably a couple of laps too long - and it made things a bit difficult towards the end. We finished sixth and that is our best result so far this season and it gives us some good points. Now we are looking to improve on that in Mugello."
Loris Capirossi – 8th
"We changed to a slick tyre really early on in the race and it was still a bit too wet to do that. It wasn't really a mistake, more a gamble that didn't work, as I made a couple of mistakes on the damp patches and ran off. I tried to keep my rhythm, but I found I had the same problem as yesterday that when the track dried out I just didn't have enough grip. I tried hard, but Colin went past in the last few laps and I just didn't have enough to attack him back. We have now finished our work here and we must try to take the good points from it and think about the future and the next couple of races."


Podium finish big achievement for Melandri and Hayate
Sunday, 17 May 2009

Back on the podium for the first time since 2007 Marco Melandri was a happy man after the MotoGP race at Le Mans.


Although Sundayâ€s MotoGP race at the Grand Prix de France was an unusual contest, the riders changing from wets to slicks midway through on a wet-drying track, Marco Melandri fully deserved his second place at Le Mans.

Before the season few would have predicted that four races into the championship the Italian rider would have achieved three consecutive top tens, his first podium since 2007 and fifth place in the standings with the newly formed Hayate Racing team.

On a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR which was updated over the winter, after John Hopkins and Anthony West both struggled on the 2008 version of the prototype, Melandri has stepped up results on the machine despite the difficult circumstances he face over the winter – as he dealt with uncertainty about his MotoGP future.

On his achievement at the fourth round of 2009 Melandri stated, “It is awesome to be back on the podium. One month and a half ago, to imagine tasting the champagne again would have been so difficult, so it is one of the best feelings I have had in my life. I had a very difficult 2008 season and now I am working to get my speed back.”

Talking through the French race he explained, “It was tough because at the beginning my wet tyres were probably a bit too soft for the conditions that we had and every lap I wanted to change the bike, but it was still too early. When I changed the bike maybe I should have done it a lap later, so I just tried not to make any mistakes and just keep the pace. In the end I managed to have a really good race.”

Looking ahead to his home race next time out in Italy, he added, “I know it will be tough at Mugello but I just want to enjoy today. I must say thanks to my team and to Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna CEO) who helped me to come back in after Kawasaki pulled out. It would be a dream to get a good result in Mugello, so I hope to get into the top ten there.”