2010 MotoGP Le Mans Preview

The MotoGP paddock moves to France this weekend for the third round of the 2010 MotoGP series. Held at the famed Le Mans venue, this year marks the 22nd-time in the circuit’s history hosting MotoGP. Drawing a huge crowd every year, Le Mans consists of many short straights and hairpins which require a finely-tuned balance between braking and acceleration. Weather will also play a large factor as the last few races have been run on a wet or damp track. A lot happened during the first two rounds of the series, and here’s what you can look out for this weekend at Le Mans.
 
With Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi each taking wins in the first two rounds, both will be eager to extend their triumphs into French territory. Lorenzo remains just four points ahead in the Championship with Rossi nipping at his heels. Last year at Le Mans Rossi was plagued by a variety of mishaps which ended in a 16th-place finish. However, Le Mans 2009 was but a brief imperfection in what is otherwise a successful history there with Rossi registering two wins on the course in 2008 and 2005. After having two weeks to recover from his shoulder injury he will be looking for a strong return to reassert his presence in the Championship.
 
"My shoulder is more or less recovered now so I hope I will be back to full strength in Le Mans. Despite the disaster of last year's race, Le Mans is a good track for me and the Yamaha always goes well there. The biggest problem is the weather, but after last year I think we deserve a sunny French GP! We've made a good start to the season, with the win in Qatar and then another podium, but we have also struggled with the bike in some areas and so we need to try to improve our performance.”
 
Coming off a fresh win in Spain, Lorenzo is confident in himself and his team. Adding to his recent win is the fact that he took a victory at Le Mans in 2009 in weather that brought chaos to those around him. Although Lorenzo has many factors in his favor he is still cautious of the season and what it could bring.
 
"Despite our victory in Jerez and taking the lead in the world standings I continue to think that I am not the favorite because the season is very long and it has only just started! I am very proud however because Jerez was my first victory at home in MotoGP. Last year I won in Le Mans in an amazing and crazy race. It was very complicated because of the rain and drying track, but I think that everybody in our team did an unbelievable job. I hope the fans aren't waiting for a repeat this weekend!”
 
In addition to Yamaha’s success at Le Mans, Honda has also enjoyed its fair-share of strong performances with 10 GP victories earned at the French circuit. This year Honda will put its faith in the Repsol team of Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso. Still looking for their first win of the ’10 season, the team has earned podium finishes in the first two rounds. After his strong performance in Jerez that was nearly a win, Pedrosa heads to Le Mans where he has a record of three victories from his 250 GP days.
 
“After the Jerez race I’m looking forward to arriving in Le Mans and continuing with our recent progress. We were able to complete a good weekend in Spain, being fast from the first practice and building up to the best set-up possible for the race. This is the pattern we have to achieve again in France. Le Mans is one of those circuits where you need to be prepared for any track conditions because the weather can play a big part during the weekend.”
 
Dovizioso has also enjoyed success at the French circuit where he won the 2004 French 125 GP which led him to that year’s 125 world title. The Italian recently underwent a successful testing session that happened after the Jerez race and will be looking to succeed at Le Mans on his revised RCV chassis.
 
“I’m looking forward to racing at Le Mans this weekend. It’s a circuit that I like and where I always tend to get good results so I’m confident for this race. After the improvements we found during the Monday test in Jerez, I think we will be very competitive. In fact we will use the new chassis we tested in Jerez and I’m very positive about our potential.”
 
The Ducati Marlboro Team will be represented by both Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner. The Australian rider will be looking to distance himself from the memory of his accident during the opening round at Qatar and improve upon his fifth-place finish at Jerez. Hayden on the other hand has secured fourth-place finishes in the first two rounds, but the podium has eluded him.
 
“Le Mans is probably the most difficult circuit on the calendar for me,” said Hayden. “I think it is the only place I’ve never been on the podium or the front row, so it will be interesting to see how we go this year. As I have said a few times we have made a good start to the season and put two good races together but we have to keep our feet on the ground and keep working because our objective is to consistently perform at a high level and close the gap even further to those front guys.”
 
France’s only rider in the premier class will be Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda RC212V. Having a successful history at Le Mans in the 250 class, he has yet to duplicate this in the big bike class. After revising his starts and RC212V chassis set-up de Puniet is rather confident for Le Mans.
 
Currently 10th in the Championship is San Carlo Gresini Honda rider Marco Melandri. After a tough winter of readjusting to his new Honda team Melandri seems to have found a groove and took eighth in the last round. Also, he is confident in his past performances at the circuit where he finished on the podium in 2007 and again in 2009.

Moto2
Le Mans is set to provide another intense dogfight in the Moto2 class. At Jerez it was Gresini Racing’s Toni Elias pulling off the win by a mere 0.190-seconds ahead of Shoya Tomizawa. Currently second in the standings, Elias is heading to France expecting another intense battle.

“We can expect another crazy Moto2 race, I think, because there are a lot of hairpins and slow corners at Le Mans, which means there will be some big battles on the brakes. I hope that everyone understands that the race is more than 20 laps, not just one or two laps!"

For Tomizawa the Le Mans race will offer a special little something as he now lives in France near his French team. Although Tomizawa lost to Elias he was able to finish second to maintain his lead in points.

“This is my team home GP so I am quite happy about that," remarked Tomizawa. "Beside this, I like the Le Mans layout and my only worry so far is what kind of weather we will get, because last year it rained a lot and this year I would prefer to race in the dry."
 
Unlike the premier class, French fans will have plenty to cheer for in the Moto2 class with three riders in attendance. Jules Cluzel of Forward Racing, Mike Di Meglio of Mapfre Aspar Team and Valentin Debise of WTR San Marino will all be present.
 
Honda’s Marcel Schrotter was able to score his first points of the 2010 season at Jerez and he is confident going into Le Mans despite never having raced there before. While the young German may be inexperienced at the French circuit, he’s also proven to excel in multiple wet-dry races, which may prove as a significant advantage going into the unpredictable Le Mans climate.