Larry Lawrence | May 8, 2016
Photo by Gold & Goose
It was a command performance for Jorge Lorenzo at Le Mans. The defending MotoGP World Champion blasted off to a perfect start from pole and then proceeded to master the Bugatti Circuit, pulling away from the rest of the field to win by 10.654 seconds. Lorenzo’s Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi put on a stellar charge in the early laps to move from seventh to second. The other big story was that of Maverick Viñales taking third, giving Suzuki its first MotoGP podium since 2008. It marked the first premier class podium for Viñales.
Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez had a strange side-by-side crash at the Museum Corner just past halfway while running second and third. Both losing the front end on the same patch of pavement separated by just feet, even though they never touched. Marquez was able to pick up his Honda and finish the race in 13th.
Lorenzo’s victory combined with Marquez’ crash put Lorenzo up in the series standings by five points over Marquez (90-85) and Rossi third with 78 points.
“The race seemed so long, like it would never end,” said Lorenzo, who scored his 42nd MotoGP victory. “I wanted to keep a high pace and not lose concentration. That’s why I didn’t close the throttle and I keep pushing into the high 33s. Finally, when Dovizioso and Marquez crashed I could breathe a little bit more. It was a very important race. I knew I could win, but obviously if Marquez finishes second I recover just five points, but now I recover over 20, so it’s a great race for the championship and I’m very happy with the work around all the weekend.”
Lorenzo was fast out of the gate on his Yamaha. The Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone ran second and third. Marquez made an aggressive inside squeeze pass on Pol Espargaro to take fourth. Meanwhile Rossi was sandwiched in a pack early, but found a way to fight his way through to fifth with some very forceful riding.
On lap five Iannone made a solid pass around his teammate Dovi to take over second and the Ducati duo continued to run together. No sooner had he taken the lead when Iannone lost the front end going into a right hander and crashed out of second place. About the same time Cal Crutchlow crashed the LCR Honda. Scott Redding was out early with a mechanical issue on his machine. Former Moto2 champ Tito Rabat crashed at turn six, then a lap later Yonny Hernandez was out in what was turning into a race of attrition.
Ten laps in and Lorenzo remained perfect, almost three seconds ahead of Dovizioso. Marquez began pressuring the second-place rider. Rossi was not far behind Marquez to make it a three-way fight for second. Maverick Viñales rounded out the top five.
Just past halfway and Rossi was on the charge, passing both Marquez and Dovi in the span of a lap to take over second, much to the delight of the large French crowd.
Marquez and Dovi had a synchronized crash with 13 laps to go, both simultaneously losing the front end going into a tight left hander. The crash left Rossi clear in second and Monster Energy Grand Prix de Francesuddenly in a podium position.
Marquez got back on the track, the left side of his Honda’s fairing scraped away and his bike dropping gravel-trap rocks like a dump truck.
With nine laps to go Bradley Smith crashed out of seventh.
In the closing laps Lorenzo stay flawless, turning in a textbook performance of how to ride a MotoGP machine. The only remaining battle late in the race was Danilo Petrucci and Hector Barbera battling over seventh with Petrucci taking the spot on his OCTO Pramac Yakhnich Ducati.
“It was a difficult race because I lose a lot of time at the beginning,” Rossi explained. “It’s normal when you start from the third row. Also my start was very bad, but after I had a quite good pace and I was a little bit faster compared to Dovi and Marquez. When I got in front I did some good laps, but already Jorge was too far. And anyway he had a better pace, he was stronger. I’m so happy because this was a difficult weekend and this 20 points are very important for the championship.”
It was a memorable day for Viñales and Suzuki.
“We did a good job today,” Viñales said. “It was a difficult race. The first laps were so, so difficult. I lose many places after I touch with Aleix (Espargaro) in the first corner. Then I recovered and was feeling good on the bike and I pushed until I was third and then I was just controlling Pedrosa. But I was feeling good on the bike and I need to say thank you to the team because they did an incredible job.”
The series now moves to Mugello, Italy on May 22 for round six of the 18-race championship.
MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE MotoGP Race Classification 2016, May 8, 2016