The French GP will offer Honda the first opportunity to take win number 300 in the premier class as Marquez looks to extend his lead and Lorenzo prepares to bounce back.
With a dominating start-to-finish victory, Marc Marquez banished his Austin demons at the Spanish GP to walk away with 25 points and the lead in the MotoGP World Championship standings. The Le Mans Circuit has offered the Repsol Honda Team rider somewhat mixed results in the premier class with two wins and a total of three podiums to his name. Maintaining momentum and continuing to build his points lead is the reigning champion’s primary objective for the weekend.
Jorge Lorenzo arrives in France looking to build on what he and his Repsol Honda Team found during the post-race test. Despite a challenging weekend in Spain, Lorenzo and his crew remain hungry to improve their results on the RC213V. With five premier class victories to his name at Le Mans, Lorenzo has proven speed around the 4.2-kilometre long French circuit.
Victory at the French GP for one of the four Honda RC213V machines of Marquez, Lorenzo, Crutchlow or Nakagami will mark Honda’s 300th premier class win, a 53-year journey which began with Jim Redman’s first win on the RC181 in 1966.
Free Practice 1 starts at 09:55 local time on Friday, May 17. The race will take place at 14:00 local time on Sunday, May 19.
Marc Marquez
“We had a very strong weekend in Jerez and a productive test but this is MotoGP and we must always keep working. Between races I was able to relax a little bit at the F1 and also the Leipzig versus Bayern game, riding my bike in the stadium was great and the noise was incredible. Le Mans can be a tricky GP, especially with the weather so we must be prepared for any conditions. Last year I was able to win here but we always face a lot of opposition.”
Jorge Lorenzo
“After a tough weekend I am pleased to be able to get back on the Honda without too much time between races. In the past, I have gone well in France but we will need to see how this weekend goes. The test we had on Monday after Jerez was productive and importantly I was able to get more time on the bike which should help us to understand and improve.”
Rider Standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | SPA | 70 | Repsol Honda Team |
| 2 | RINS Alex | 42 | SPA | 69 | Team Suzuki Ecstar |
| 3 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | ITA | 67 | Mission Winnow Ducati |
| 4 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | ITA | 61 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |
| 5 | PETRUCCI Danilo | 9 | ITA | 41 | Mission Winnow Ducati |
| 6 | VINALES Maverick | 12 | SPA | 30 | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP |
| 7 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | 30 | JPN | 29 | LCR Honda |
| 8 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 29 | Pramac Racing |
| 9 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | GBR | 27 | LCR Honda |
| 10 | MORBIDELLI Franco | 21 | ITA | 25 | Petronas Yamaha SRT |
| 11 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | SPA | 21 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
| 12 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 18 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
| 13 | QUARTARARO Fabio | 20 | FRA | 17 | Petronas Yamaha SRT |
| 14 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | SPA | 11 | Repsol Honda Team |
| 15 | BAGNAIA Francesco | 63 | ITA | 9 | Pramac Racing |
| 16 | MIR Joan | 36 | SPA | 8 | Team Suzuki Ecstar |
| 17 | ZARCO Johann | 5 | FRA | 7 | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
| 18 | OLIVEIRA Miguel | 88 | POR | 7 | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 |
| 19 | BRADL Stefan | 6 | GER | 6 | HRC Test Team |
| 20 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | ITA | 6 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
| 21 | RABAT Tito | 53 | SPA | 2 | Reale Avintia Racing |
Words and Photos: Honda Racing Corporation
