FIM MotoGP World Championship Le Mans, France May 17, 2009 Race Results (wet conditions, all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 28 laps, 47:52.678 2. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), -17.710 seconds 3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), -19.893 4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), -20.455 5. Casey STONER (Ducati), -30.539 6. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), -37.462 7. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), -40.191 8. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), -45.421 9. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), -50.307 10. Toni ELIAS (Honda), -53.218 11. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), -53.550 12. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), -56.647 13. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda), -56.688 14. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), -71.299 15. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), -75.385 16. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), -2 laps, crash, ride-through penalty 17. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), -17 laps, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 4 of 17 races): 1. Lorenzo, 66 points 2. TIE, Rossi/Stoner, 65 4. Pedrosa, 57 5. TIE, Melandri/Dovizioso, 43 7. Edwards, 35 8. Vermeulen, 31 9. Capirossi, 27 10. De Puniet, 26 11. Elias, 21 12. De Angelis, 20 13. Toseland, 17 14. Kallio, 16 15. Hayden, 9 16. TIE, Sete Gibernau/Takahashi, 8 18. Canepa, 3 More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO TAKES FANTASTIC FRENCH VICTORY ON ACTION-PACKED DAY IN LE MANS Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took a stunning second win of the season in Le Mans today, negotiating varying track conditions and a change of bikes to lead from the first lap to the flag and take the championship lead. It was a doom-laden day for his team-mate Valentino Rossi however as the world champion slid off early on and then had a ride-through penalty to compound his misfortune. With the track still wet from a rainy morning all riders started the race on rain tyres, with the mechanics readying the dry bikes in pit lane in anticipation of an early change as the track dried out. Lorenzo, starting from second, slipped a place at the start but had passed both Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa by the end of the first lap to take the lead. By lap five a dry line had begun to appear and a few riders chose to make early pit stops to change bikes. The 22-year-old Spaniard however was feeling comfortable and had an excellent pace on his Bridgestone wets and so he stayed out, constantly stretching his lead. In the end he was the last of the front-runners to pit, a gamble which paid off brilliantly as he was by then nearly 34 seconds clear and was able to rejoin the race in the lead on lap 13. Once he had bit of heat in his slick tyres the youngster put his head down and kept his nerve for the remaining 15 laps and he eventually took the chequered flag an impressive 17.710 seconds clear of second-placed Marco Melandri. It was a day of stark contrasts on the opposite side of the garage, with Rossi forced to make an incredible four visits to pit lane. The Italian was in second behind his team-mate when he elected for an early bike change, coming in to swap onto his second M1 on dry Bridgestones after just five laps. The change went smoothly but the track was still damp in places and he went down on the next lap whilst trying to warm his tyres up. He returned to the pits next time around to swap back onto his other bike, with the rules stipulating that he had to keep one wet tyre with the second bike change, but a problem with his pit-limiter meant he was penalised for speeding on exit and forced to return once again two laps later to perform a ride-through penalty. His final visit to the garage came on lap 11 when he changed once again onto a fully-dry machine, but by then he was some two laps adrift and he finished in 16th. Lorenzo’s 25-point haul takes him into the lead by one point and he now has 66 points to Rossi’s 65. Stoner has the same points as Rossi but lies third as the Italian has more second places, and Pedrosa follow in the standings. With just nine points separating the top four the next round in Mugello is sure to be a thrilling spectacle. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1 Time: 47’52.678 “Never in all my dreams did I imagine this situation today winning the race and leading the championship. This season I have been much more calm and careful and so I was really upset after the crash in Jerez because I didn’t expect it! Today has made up for that though. I had a very good pace with both types of tyre and the strategy of our team worked perfectly. I felt happy to stay out on the wet tyres for such a long time and in the end I think we changed at exactly the right time for our race; there was some luck on our side but we were also strong, calm and careful and this paid off. It was the first time in my life that I’ve had to change bikes during the race and I was very nervous, but it went smoothly and I was able to rejoin in the lead. I’m sorry for Valentino because it was bad luck to crash, but now we are nearly on the same points and it seems like the championship is starting again! I want to thank my team because they were very clever today, I’m so happy to be here and to have won a third MotoGP race.” Valentino Rossi Position: 16th Time: +2 Laps “I had difficulties from the start today and I really could not ride my bike to its best. Already by the fourth lap I felt that I was quite slow and that I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I decided to change bikes early because usually this strategy being among the first to change the bike pays off. Of course 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 didn’t ride into it in a calm enough manner. Luckily I was able to make it back to the pits and 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. We’ve had problems throughout the entire weekend with the set-up of the bike and today 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!” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “We’re so happy to win today because everyone has done a great job all weekend to give Jorge a competitive machine on which he was able to ride very fast and this is a well deserved victory. The team did a very important job during the race to find a great strategy and the best moment to change the bike. Thanks and well done to all; the championship is looking very exciting now!” Davide Brivio Team Manager “Everything happened to us today so let’s hope that’s it for now! I don’t think that the decision to stop early was wrong, and it paid off for Melandri among others, but unfortunately Valentino crashed and that, coupled with the ride-through penalty, was the end of our challenge today. This type of race is always a gamble; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t and today it really didn’t for us! Luckily we’re still just one point off the top of the championship and we will restart our challenge again at the next race.” More, from a press release issued by Monzter Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards fights back for super seventh, Toseland back in top ten Colin Edwards produced a rousing fight back in an incident-packed French Grand Prix today, the American claiming a deserved seventh place for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team in its home race. And on the 20th anniversary of the Tech 3 Team competing in the Grand Prix world championship, British rider James Toseland secured a determined ninth in a gripping flag-to-flag encounter over 28-laps. Texan Edwards was left to rue a missed opportunity to claim a second successive podium in Le Mans after a disappointing start from sixth on the grid in wet conditions. But once he’d switched to his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1 fitted with slick tyres on lap 11 as the track dried rapidly, the 35-year-old produced a stunning surge through the field. He passed team-mate Toseland with five laps remaining and at the end he was just over two seconds away from the top six having set the third fastest lap of the race in his brilliant late attack in front of 75,903 fans. Toseland showed more of his true potential in today’s race, which started under grey and gloomy skies but ended in sunny conditions. The British rider set a stunning pace on wet tyres in the early stages and fought his way through from 12th on the grid to seventh. He changed bikes to slick tyres as conditions improved on lap seven and for a while he closely pursued Australian duo Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen. He eventually claimed his second top ten finish of the campaign, his ninth position in his first taste of a flag-to-flag MotoGP race another encouraging sign that the 28-year-old is making big progress with the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine. Colin Edwards 7th – 35 points “I’m really disappointed because it was definitely a missed opportunity today for a podium. In the first part of the race on the wet tyres I just couldn’t get the bike to turn. I’d lost so many places I was nearly at the back and I just wasn’t comfortable. The bike was just sitting on the rear and I had no weight on the front, so I couldn’t get into the corner. I saw some guys come into the pits and I thought it was a couple of laps too early because there were still some wet patches out there. I waited for a bit and came in and on the first couple of laps back out of the pits I lost so much time again. I was on the hard front tyre because I can’t run the soft compound and it took a while to get some heat into it. I had a couple of moments but once it came good, it came really good and I got my head down. I think only Jorge (Lorenzo) was lapping faster than me and once I got my pace going I was catching people pretty quickly. To only finish seventh is a bit frustrating when you look at my times in the dry. At the end of the day I rode a good second half of the race. But the first half wasn’t great and that cost me. I’m confident for Mugello though and hopefully we’ll get plenty of dry track time.” James Toseland 9th 17 points “That was pretty eventful and my team did a great job for the change of bikes. I’ve never been in a flag-to-flag race before and it is definitely different. There’s no time to lose concentration in the pits because everything is still happening so quickly. And when you go out on a damp track on slicks you can’t lose focus. The team told me they were going to put ‘OK’ on the board as soon as the first person came in, and though nobody was coming in around me, I felt I came in at the right time. It’s always a risk because there were a couple of corners where it was still quite damp, but for two-thirds of the track you definitely needed slick tyres. My pace on the slicks at the start was really good and I was seventh at one point. But I was on the soft front tyre and it kept getting hotter and hotter and the stronger front harder tyre was what I needed. When I was trying to stay with Colin at the end I just didn’t have the front grip unfortunately. It was nice to be fighting up there again but on the other hand a bit frustrating because I think we could have had a seventh. It’s not the best finish but I really feel we have made a step forward here and my team is working great. As long as we can keep working like this I’m really looking forward to the next few races.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager “Unfortunately a race that promised so much for us ended a little disappointingly, but Colin and James still did Tech 3 proud in our home race, which had extra significance because of our 20th anniversary. We have to think that we missed something big. We’d said that top five would be a dream but we could see from Colin’s brilliant pace in the dry that had he started better when it was wet he could have had another podium in Le Mans. Colin struggled with some issues in the wet but as soon as he switched to the dry bike he was the fastest rider on track at some points and for sure a top three was a possibility. It’s a pity for him but he showed his potential in the dry. I’m really happy with James. The whole weekend he has shown a big improvement compared to the first three races and it was by far the best race of the season for him. We knew he wasn’t going to recover from the problems of the winter so quickly, but step-by-step he is showing his true potential. Hopefully for Mugello we won’t have any rain and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team can get a strong result.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: 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 Racing’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 Honda’s Dani Pedrosa hunted down his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso on the final lap for third place to secure his third consecutive rostrum 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. Earlier, on a wet track Marco Simoncelli took his second podium in two races, with his first win of the year, going some way to make up for his pointless visits to Qatar and Japan. Simoncelli brought his Metis Gilera machine home 18 seconds ahead of Héctor Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG), who recorded his first 250cc podium with a solid ride. Also avoiding any errors was Simoncelli’s team-mate Roberto Locatelli who came home third having not been on the rostrum since 2006. Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar) picked up good points in fourth place to go top of the general standings, a single point ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing) who finished eighth. Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT SAG) scored the best result of his career to date, whilst Raffaele de Rosa (Scot Racing) crossed the line sixth. Czech rider Lukas Pesek (Auto Kelly – CP) was seventh and Imre Toth (Team Toth) ninth, coming home just ahead of World Championship newcomer Vladimir Leonov (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) who scored a creditable tenth. Like Lorenzo, Julián Simón put his Jerez heartbreak behind him with a masterful display in the 125cc race, dealing brilliantly with the difficult conditions to come from seventh on the grid to win by 27 seconds. In second place German 15 year-old Jonas Folger (Ongetta Racing I.S.P.A.) also put his Spanish GP disappointment out of his mind with a battling display from 16th on the grid, riding beyond his years to take his first podium in just his tenth race. On another good day for the Bancaja Aspar team Sergio Gadea completed the rostrum places, with his team-mate Bradley Smith doing a professional job to bring his Aprilia home in fourth and collect more valuable championship points. Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami (Ongetta Racing I.S.P.A.) and Swiss competitor Dominique Aegerter (Ajo Interwetten) were fifth and sixth respectively, whilst Andrea Iannone (Ongetta Racing I.S.P.A.) remounted from a first lap crash to finish seventh. Efrén Vázquez (Derbi Racing Team) was eighth, double crasher Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team) finished ninth and Lorenzo Zanetti (Ongetta Racing I.S.P.A.) was tenth. The MotoGP World Championship returns to action after a weekend’s break, with the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice taking place at Mugello from 29th-31st May. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: PEDROSA AND DOVIZIOSO 3RD AND 4TH IN LE MANS THRILLER Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso finished in third and fourth positions today in a gripping Grand Prix of France. In a compelling finish, Pedrosa passed his team-mate only five corners from the chequered flag at the famous Le Mans circuit to take his third podium successive races. From the start, Pedrosa converted his pole position into an early advantage and carefully tiptoed around the track which, having been wet after rain this morning, had already started to dry. After slipping back to fifth in the tricky conditions, the 23-year-old Spaniard decided to change to his alternative bike fitted with slick Bridgestone tyres. But his move looked to be too early and the riders who stayed out on wets were able to stretch a big advantage in the treacherous conditions. One of those riders was Andrea Dovizioso who rode brilliantly on his wets and spent the first part of the race developing a strong second place behind today’s eventual winner, Jorge Lorenzo. After eleven laps it was time for Dovizioso to come for his ‘dry’ bike and he rejoined in fourth before moving up to third – a position he held until half-way through the final lap. But Pedrosa’s late-race pace was irresistible – he set the fastest lap of the race on lap 27 of the 28 – and Dovizioso couldn’t prevent his team-mate from taking the final podium place. The Italian was naturally disappointed but philosophical afterwards and goes to his home race in Mugello in two week’s time lying equal fifth in the World Championship, 23 points behind Lorenzo. Pedrosa’s immensely impressive start to the season, despite coming into 2009 hampered by injury, sees him in fourth place in the title standing, just nine points from the top spot. DANI PEDROSA 3rd World Championship position 4th – 57 points “Again, this is a fantastic podium for me because the conditions were very difficult today and in the end we came through it with a good result. At the start of the race it really wasn’t clear what the best thing to do was. In the first few laps in the wet my pace wasn’t very fast and I was going backwards and losing positions. So I decided to stop quite early and change to the machine with dry tyres – at the same time as Rossi. On the first lap out of the pits on the slick tyres he crashed in front of me and this made me even more nervous about the conditions. I really couldn’t see where it was wet and where it was dry so my lap times at this stage were not good – something like 1m 55s. I lost a lot of time at this point. But then towards the end of the race when I had sufficient temperature in my tyres I was able to get into a rhythm and go faster and faster – eventually closing the gap on Andrea. In the end I caught and passed him on the last lap – really close to the finish. He was riding very well and made it hard to pass, but I was able to get the place, so I’m happy with podium today.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 4th World Championship position 6th – 43 points “I’m disappointed because we had a good race, the podium was very near and then I lost it at the very last lap. So I’m sorry for the team because they’ve done a very good job throughout the weekend and a podium finish would have been a fitting ending. At the beginning of the race it was a really tricky situation. We had a fast pace in the wet even though we hadn’t tested in these conditions. I was in second place when I came into the pits to change the bike because the track was drying quickly. It was the first time that I’ve done this bike-change procedure and I think it works well. Our timing was was ok – though maybe we could have come in two laps earlier. Anyway, I rejoined in third position, I was racing for the podium and I had a good rhythm, but it was not enough and Dani came alongside on the straight on the last lap. I tried to close the door, braking hard, but he had the inside line and that means you’re in control of the corner. I ran a little bit wide on the exit so I couldn’t try to catch him. It was disappointing for me but Dani was fast, especially in the last four laps when his pace was in the low 1m 35s, so my compliments to him.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Both riders did an excellent job in really challenging conditions so I’d like to say thank you to them. Third and fourth is a good result for the team today because the weather made things very complex. In fact, the performance from the whole Repsol Honda Team is very positive at the moment. We’re going in the right direction and making progress but there are still areas we need to improve with our machine and this is something we’re working at relentlessly. Dani is now not far from the championship lead so we must ensure he and Andrea have the equipment to continue the fight. And the next race is Andrea’s home race at Mugello so he’ll be very motivated to get another strong result.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: Difficult Grand Prix of France for the Pramac Racing Team. Canepa fifteenth, Kallio deceived by the track condition A weekend that will have to be forget really soon by the Pramac Racing Team. The Grand Prix of France has been full of surprises since the beginning: the rain dropped in the morning has obligated the MotoGP riders to start the race with wet set up for then after only a few laps change the bike due to the improvement of the track. Mika Kallio was in ninth position when overtaking a slower rider he didn’t see some water remained on the track that made him slip. A pity as Mika was registering really interesting lap time. His teammate, Niccolò Canepa, made it to conquer another world championship point, the third of the season, in his first Gran Prix ridden on the Le Mans circuit. Next world championship round in two weeks time at Mugello for the Grand Prix of Italy. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “One of the most incredible weekend ever for us. Yesterday for the problem found during qualifying when Mika was in first position, today with the slip due to a waterhole found while overtaking a much slower rider that didn’t see Mika was arriving. Nothing we can do about it. We are convinced that our rider can always do well at each Grand Prix; we just need a bit of luck. Niccolò, on the other side of the garage, is improving his rhythm race by race and at Mugello, track that he knows really well, he will have to show us his true value.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 15th in the race – 18th in the Championship “A strange race. I lost a lot of time after changing bike. I took too much time to get the rhythm. Then, in the last five or six laps of the race, I was riding really well and this gives me a lot of trust for the next race at Mugello. Finally a track that I know well and where I will try not only to continue to drop my distance from the firsts riders but also my position in the standing.” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – DNF – 14th in the Championship “We were doing really well today. I chose the right moment to change bike and I was in a good position. I reached Hayden and I tried to overtake him in the inside. All of a sudden he changed line and I was obligated to pass outside where there was a wet spot on the track and I slipped. Probably he didn’t see me. I am very sad about today because I was feeling really well.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: PEDROSA SCORES THIRD PODIUM IN A ROW, FAUBEL SECOND IN 250s Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) rode his heart out to score a brilliant podium finish at Le Mans today, grabbing third place from team-mate Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) on the very last lap. The fourth race of 2009 was a fascinating encounter, with changing weather conditions forcing riders to change from rain tyres to slicks as the track dried following rainfall during the 125 and 250 races. Watched by 75,900 fans, the French Grand Prix was won by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) whose second victory of the year puts him back in the World Championship lead. The race started on a wet track with all riders using rain tyres, but it was obvious after the first few laps that the surface was drying and that riders would need to enter the pits and swap to their slick-equipped bikes if they wanted to be fast all the way to the finish. Pedrosa had started strong, completing the first lap in second, but then he started slipping backwards. Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) was the first man to change to slick tyres, at the end of lap five while lying second behind Lorenzo, but his decision proved precipitous and he crashed during his out lap, the track still damp in places. Pedrosa had pitted the same lap and was following Rossi when he fell, the crash telling the Spaniard to take things steady until the track had dried out some more. Down in 12th after seven laps, Pedrosa steadily got up to speed on his slicks and then started clawing his way back to the front. He made it into fourth place on lap 14, finally passing Dovizioso as they braked for the Chemin aux Boeufs chicane for the 28th and final time. The result puts Pedrosa fourth overall in the World Championship, just nine points behind Lorenzo. Dovizioso was disappointed at losing out on his first podium finish for Repsol Honda but nonetheless the result was his best so far this year. The Italian was riding superbly, moving up to second place during the early stages of the race. He slipped to fourth after changing tyres but soon moved back into third place, holding that position until the final few corners. Team-mates Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) and Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) had a great duel for the final place in the top ten, Elias beating De Angelis by just three tenths of a second. Elias had been the last rider to change to his slick-equipped bike, the Spaniard coming into the pits just before half-distance. It was a heroic ride from Elias who has 30 stitches in his right arm, the legacy of a recent operation to fix ‘arm pump’ problems. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) didn’t have the home race he deserved, the Frenchman finishing 14th, just two weeks after his brilliant ride to fourth place at Jerez. Rookie Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda RC212V) spent much of the race dicing with former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden (Ducati), with De Angelis and Elias also in the group until the final few laps. At the finish Japanese crossed the line less than a tenth of a second behind Hayden. The 250 and 125 races were both run in treacherous wet conditions, so much so that there were 13 crashes in the 250 race and 30 crashes in the 125 race. Only one rider, Cameron Beaubier (KTM 125) sustained an injury, the American teenager breaking his left wrist. Honda men figured strongly in the 250 race, proving the rider-friendly characteristics of the RS250RW. Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG) had a brilliant ride to second place to score his first podium in the category. The former 125 GP winner kept his head while many around lost theirs, Faubel moving into second place in the final third of the race when Alex Debon (Aprilia) and Thomas Luthi (Aprilia) crashed out together. The race was won by reigning World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Gilera). Honda SAG team-mate Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) scored his best-ever World Championship result in fifth place after a heroic ride with a right-hand injury sustained in a recent domestic accident. Wilairot rode with his throttle/brake hand heavily bandaged and had to learn a new riding technique, braking only with his middle finger. Class rookie Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) had another strong ride to sixth place, the Italian coming through from 15th place to score his third top ten result from his first four 250 races. His team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) had an altogether tougher time at Le Mans, the Japanese coming home eighth. The result lost him the World Championship lead, though Aoyama still holds a strong second place overall, just one point behind leader Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia). Two Honda wild card riders Frenchman Valentin Debise (Team CIP Honda) and Briton Toby Markham (C&L Honda) also scored points in 13th and 14th. Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) and Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) were less lucky, both falling on the first lap. HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), third-place finisher, said: “Again, this is a fantastic podium for me because the conditions were very difficult today and in the end we came through it with a good result. At the start of the race it really wasn’t clear what the best thing to do was. In the first few laps in the wet my pace wasn’t very fast and I was going backwards and losing positions. So I decided to stop quite early and change to the machine with dry tyres at the same time as Rossi. On the first lap out of the pits on slick tyres he crashed in front of me and this made me even more nervous about the conditions. I really couldn’t see where it was wet and where it was dry so my lap times at this stage were not good something like 1m 55s. I lost a lot of time at this stage. But then towards the end of the race when I had sufficient temperature in my tyres I was able to get into a rhythm and go faster and faster eventually closing the gap on Andrea. In the end I caught and passed him on the last lap really close to the finish. He was riding very well and made it hard to pass, but I was able to get the place, so I’m happy with the podium today.” Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), fourth-place finisher, said: “I’m disappointed because we had a good race, the podium was very near and then I lost it at the very last lap. So I’m sorry for the team because they’ve done a very good job throughout the weekend and a podium finish would have been a fitting ending. At the beginning of the race it was a really tricky situation. We had a fast pace in the wet even though we hadn’t tested in these conditions. I was in second place when I came into the pits to change the bike because the track was drying quickly. It was the first time that I’ve done this bike-change procedure and I think it works well. Our timing was okay though maybe we could have come in two laps earlier. Anyway, I rejoined in third position, I was racing for the podium and I had a good rhythm, but it was not enough and Dani came alongside on the straight on the last lap. I tried to close the door, braking hard, but he had the inside line and that means you’re in control of the corner. I ran a little bit wide on the exit so I couldn’t try to catch him. It was disappointing for me but Dani was fast, especially in the last four laps when his pace was in the low 1m 35s, so my compliments to him.” Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini), tenth-place finisher, said: “I’m sure that was a fun race for the fans to watch with the pit stops and bike changes but it was a tough one for us! I got a good start in the wet but I didn’t feel too comfortable in those conditions so I was lucky that it dried out. We did a good job changing bikes and I think I was one of the fastest, if not the fastest, to change. It took us a while to get the slick tyre up to temperature and the first four or five laps were really tricky but then I got into my rhythm, even though I was struggling a lot with the lack of power in my arm. I had to fight really hard to hold off the challenge of De Angelis and Hayden. I thought they might get the better of me but in the end they didn’t! In my current physical state I couldn’t have hoped for a much better result than this but we have to kick on and improve from here. In Mugello I’ll be much better and in the right shape for what we hope will be a turning point for us.” Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), 11th-place finisher, said: “After struggling to find a set-up here all weekend we went for something radically different in the race and overall it was pretty good. I struggled a little bit when it was wet at the beginning of the race and then when we changed to slicks I had a few big moments and almost crashed. I was taking a lot of risks to keep my pace up and then when we got more heat into the tyre I was able to set a good pace. Basically the race ended up to be better than I was expecting but we can still do much better than this so that is the target for the next race at Mugello.” Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda), 13th-place finisher, said: “This was my first time competing in a race like that, with bike changes. The conditions were tricky, so it was a difficult GP. My start in the wet conditions wasn’t great but once I got into a rhythm I was able to overtake a few rivals. In the second part of the race, after I had changed to my other bike with slick tyres, my feeling with the bike was worse. That made it quite difficult to stay concentrated.” Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), 14th-place finisher, said: “I am very disappointed for the team and for the fans because I had a very bad race today. At the beginning, on rain tyres, I was not comfortable with the front end. Then I switched to my other bike on slick tyres but I made a mistake on Turn Four, which lost me a few seconds. After that I struggled I lot and could not ride the way I would normally expect to ride. We started the weekend with the right package and I was aiming at getting a better result. However, I did score two points and I am tenth in the overall standings. Now I’m looking forward to racing at Mugello in hopefully better weather conditions.” HONDA 250 RIDER QUOTES Hector Faubel (Valencia CF Honda SAG), second-place finisher, said: “I’m very happy, I’ve missed being on the podium. The team has worked hard to get here and I have been trying hard but we’ve had some bad luck and a few problems. The conditions were really difficult today with the track changing throughout the race, so it was important to be sensible. During the second half Locatelli put a lot of pressure on me. Even before the race I knew that in these conditions the big thing would be staying on. There is no point being very fast in these conditions if you fall off, and it’s so easy to fall off.” Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG), fifth-place finisher, said: “This is my best finish in a Grand Prix race, so I’m very happy. It was an incredible race because we hadn’t practiced in the rain, so to get this result is really nice. My right hand is okay, but I could only brake with one finger, the middle finger, but despite that I felt very comfortable on the bike. My thanks go to all the team and to all the people who believe in me.” Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda), sixth-place finisher, said: “Track conditions were very difficult, which made it very easy to make a mistake. I think if I had got a better start I would have been able to stay with the guys in front, but instead I got a bad start. I quickly understood that this was one of those races in which it didn’t make sense to take too many risks. I didn’t want to waste everything, so I did my best to collect some points and gain some experience of racing a 250 in such tricky conditions.” Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda), eighth-place finisher, said: “The bike was good and the tyres were good. But for some reason I was not getting a good feeling, probably because the track conditions were so bad. I came close to crashing on two occasions, so I decided not to risk going over the limit. I tried to make it to the finish and get as many points as possible.” Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda), DNF, said: “For just one little moment I was too early on the gas, the rear wheel stepped out and my race was over. But the bike has been really good here I just should have waited a bit longer before I started to attack. This whole weekend has been a weekend to forget. Now I just want to look forward to the next race at Mugello.” Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda), DNF, said: “The track was so slippery and I think I was just a little too early on the gas exiting the chicane for the first time. It’s been a tricky weekend with the weather changing constantly, which isn’t what you want when you visit a track for the first time. But the team has been great and I’m really looking forward to Mugello.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo wins in mixed Le Mans using wet and slick Bridgestones Round 4: France Race report Le Mans Circuit, Sunday 17 May Tyre compounds used: Front: Wets – Soft. Slicks – Soft, Medium. Rear: Wets – Soft. Slicks – Soft, Medium The French Grand Prix did not fail to deliver the unpredictable weather expected from the fourth round of the series as all riders started on Bridgestone’s soft wet tyres but switched to slicks as the circuit dried following a day of intermittent rain. The decision to start on wets was not made easy by the still wet but drying track. The timing of the change to Bridgestone’s slick tyres mid-race was crucial in a grand prix that saw frantic overtaking and position changes amid greasy conditions and pit-stops as riders changed to their dry condition bikes. Jorge Lorenzo delivered a dominating performance for Fiat Yamaha, gaining the lead on the opening lap and never looking back as he established a comfortable gap. He was the last rider to pit, along with San Carlo rider Toni Elias on lap 12, and the Spaniard subsequently stamped his authority on the race with a series of fastest laps using a medium compound front and soft compound rear Bridgestone slick. The optimum lap for the change to Bridgestone’s slick tyres was at the end of lap eight, as by the ninth Marco Melandri proved that slicks were the faster option, having himself pitted on lap six. The Italian made best use of his soft compound front and rear Bridgestone slicks to climb from 11th to second and the first podium for Hayate Racing. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa snatched third position from teammate Andrea Dovizioso on the final lap, and in doing so he set the fastest lap of the race on lap 27 using a medium compound front Bridgestone and a soft rear. Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit “It was a very exciting race in difficult conditions which made the decision as to when to pit very difficult for the riders. This meant we saw a very good race with many battles. I would like to congratulation Jorge for a great ride, Marco and Hayate as it is very good to see a Kawasaki machine on the podium again, and Dani for his determination right to the flag.” Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “Our wet tyre has shown good durability today so I am very happy. Even in the drying conditions Jorge was getting faster and faster each lap until Marco went faster on the slick tyre, so this shows our wet tyre has a sufficiently wide range to cover all wet and damp situations. Also, the Bridgestone slick tyre performed well on damp conditions so we can see that with just wet and slick tyres we cover all conditions we can expect during a race weekend.” Jorge Lorenzo, Fiat Yamaha, Race Winner “It was a very difficult race as I am not used to changing the bike in the middle of the race. This was the first time in my life I have done this. It was very difficult to change at the right moment, as change one lap later and you could lose the race. I was fast with the wet tyre and also with the dry, so I am grateful for this victory.” Top ten classification (Sunday 14:00 GMT+2) Pos. Rider Team Race time Gap Front tyre Rear tyre 1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha 47m52.678s Wet, Medium (lap 12) Wet, Soft (lap 12) 2 Marco Melandri Hayate Racing 48m10.388s +17.710s Wet, Soft (lap 6) Wet, Soft (lap 6) 3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda 48m12.571s +19.893s Wet, Medium (lap56) Wet, Soft (lap 5) 4 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda 48m13.133s +20.455s Wet, Soft (lap 11) Wet, Soft (lap 11) 5 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 48m23.217s +30.539s Wet, Soft (lap11) Wet, Soft (lap 11) 6 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki 48m30.140s +37.462s Wet, Medium (lap 11) Wet, Soft (lap 11) 7 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 48m32.869s +40.191s Wet, Medium (lap 10) Wet, Soft (lap 10) 8 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki 48m38.099s +45.421s Wet, Medium (lap 5) Wet, Soft (lap 5) 9 James Toseland Monster Yamaha Tech3 48m42.985s +50.307s Wet, Soft (lap 6) Wet, Soft (lap 6) 10 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 48m45.896s +53.218s Wet, Soft (lap 12) Wet, Soft (lap 12) Weather: Wet, drying, dry. Ambient 14-18°C; Track 17-24°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Chris Vermeulen made the most he could of very difficult conditions at Le Mans in France this afternoon to record his best result of the season so far. The 28-lap race was declared wet after showers had soaked the 4’185m circuit and Vermeulen put his wet riding skills to good use by moving up into fourth place early on. As the strong winds and sporadic sunshine dried the track Vermeulen delayed his decision to come into the pits to change to his Suzuki GSV-R with slick tyres, for as long as possible. After he came in to change bikes he rejoined the race two places further down the field and although Vermeulen managed to get up to fifth, he wasn’t able to hold that place and had to settle for sixth at the chequered flag. Loris Capirossi took the brave step of coming in to change to dry tyres very early in the race and the gamble nearly cost him dearly as twice he lost grip on wet patches and ran off the track. Capirossi continued to battle on and although he never found a comfortable rhythm he still brought his machine home in eighth to score valuable points. Today’s race was watched by almost 76,000 fans at trackside who saw Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo storm to an impressive victory that also takes him to the top of the riders’ championship. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now travels to Italy for the fifth round of the championship. The Italian Grand Prix will be at Mugello in Tuscany on Sunday 31st May and Capirossi will certainly be aiming to give his home fans something to cheer about. Chris Vermeulen: “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: “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.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “It was a typically interesting Le Mans Grand Prix today and the team did a good job by giving the riders the best equipment they could for wet and dry conditions. Our wet pace wasn’t too bad but we have struggled with rear grip in cold and changeable conditions so far this season – which is something we have to improve, not Bridgestone – and today was no different. Our competitors seem to be able to get more traction than us and that told in the final result. Both Chris and Loris gave their maximum as always, and we’ve scored some reasonable points. Now we have to look forward to Loris’s home race in Mugello in two-week’s time and hopefully further updates to increase our performance in Barcelona soon after that.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER FIFTH IN SPLIT RACE AT LE MANS, HAYDEN BATTLES TO TWELFTH Not satisfied with interrupting the first two races of the season, the heavens once again opened over the Grand Prix de France GP to create an exciting flag to flag race that started out wet before drying out. Casey Stoner emerged from the drama with a fifth place that was certainly creditable but not entirely satisfactory to the Australian, who would surely have fought for the podium if it weren’t for a technical problem in the dry part of the race. Despite making an excellent start Stoner was not totally comfortable with his wet set-up and struggled during the early stages, dropping from second place to seventh in just three laps. After changing to a bike fitted with slick tyres he then encountered a problem with his steering damper, which he managed to fix himself but lost valuable time as a result. Once he got back into his rhythm he was able to pass compatriot Chris Vermeulen for fifth place and pick up eleven crucial points that leave him level in the championship with Valentino Rossi on 65 points one behind today’s deserved winner Jorge Lorenzo. With Daniel Pedrosa lurking on 57, the championship is wide open after four rounds. It has also been a positive weekend overall for Nicky Hayden, who wasn’t blessed with the ideal conditions to begin working with a new Chief Mechanic but still made progress throughout the weekend and put in an impressive race performance. Lapping in fourth place before changing machines he was battling for eighth in the second, dry half of the race when Mika Kallio crashed, the Finn’s Ducati making contact with Hayden’s and causing it some light damage, as well as forcing the American off track. A twelfth place finish was scant reward for an otherwise encouraging weekend. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 5th “I’m pretty disappointed because I don’t think we realised our potential at all today the wet bike we started with had a big problem and I couldn’t find any traction from the warm-up lap. I never felt comfortable and I was losing a lot of time but it still wasn’t dry enough to come in for slick tyres. Then when I switched over my other bike had a problem with the steering damper and after four laps I had to take my hand off the gas coming down the straight to fix it. After that I felt much better, the bike was more comfortable and I was able to ride to my potential. I think if it wasn’t for that we would have been able to battle for the podium today but unfortunately these things happen sometimes and we just have to hope things work out better next time. I now really look forward to Mugello, one of my favourite. I’ve got some good results there and I feel we have a bit better package this year compared to the last one so hopefully we should be able to fight more at the front”. NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 12th “The conditions were tricky and sometimes you have races that aren’t exactly what you’ve planned. It’s actually good fun on the grid making late decisions on set-up and tyres and things, with the track being wet but the sun shining. I got a decent start and even though I’ve had very little time on this bike in the rain my feeling was pretty good and I was able to move up a few spots. We came in and changed to slick tyre but with the track temperatures being so low it was hard to get any heat into the tyres, especially on the left side now that we don’t have dual compound rubber anymore. I was actually as high as eight at one point but I got unlucky again when Kallio crashed and his bike slid into me. I was lucky to save it because the impact was hard you can see the rubber on the side of my bike and I ran off track. It cost me time and positions and also damaged the front wheel sensor. We have two so the bike was working as well but probably it didn’t help things. Overall it’s not a great result but it has been a weekend where me and Juan have been able to work a lot together for the first time, we’ve tried to build an understanding and hopefully we can go forward from here.” LIVIO SUPPO Ducati Marlboro Team MotoGP Project Director “Unfortunately we didn’t have any time to set the bikes up for the wet conditions today so it was a bit of a gamble and Casey who we know is unbelievably fast in the rain, was unable to meet his potential. Things were better in the dry and only one rider set better lap times than Casey. It has been a real shame but we have to think positive because last year when we left Le Mans we were forty one points behind in the championship and now the gap is just one. It was a difficult race for Nicky after the contact with Mika Kallio but he rode well and is making constant improvements, so we’re looking ahead to the next race with plenty of optimism.” More, from a press release issued by Elf LCR Honda: De Puniet MANAGED TO END 14th AT LE MANS GP Le Mans, 17 May: LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet rode his Honda RC212V to the 14th place overall at Le Mans historic circuit today starting from the fourth row ahead his national fans. Despite showing good form during free practice, De Puniet was unable to translate that to a hot flying lap on soft tyres during yesterday’s qualifying session but the 28-year-old was confident before the start of the 28-lap race as his overall race package was pretty good. The French GP got underway at 14:00 local time with cloudy skies as the racetrack has been hit by poor rain throughout the morning. The premier class riders started on wet tyres but after few laps they came in to swap the bikes as the track surface started to dry up. De Puniet switched on his “dry” machine on lap 7 but when he rejoined the race he could not lap as he likes and managed to finish the race in 14th position. Lorenzo climbed up the podium followed by Melandri and Pedrosa. De Puniet 14th De Puniet 14th: “I am very disappointed for the Team and for the fans because I made a very bad race today. At the beginning, on rain tyres, I was not comfortable with the front end. Then I switched on the bike set up with slick tyres but I made a mistake on turn no. 4 loosing some seconds. After that I struggled I lot and could not race as I expected. We started the week end with the right package and I aimed to get a better result. However I got two points and I am 10th in the standing. Now I have to forget this bad week end and must focus for Mugello race”.