Le Mans, France: The French Grand Prix saw Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Tito Rabat cap a strong weekend by finishing on the podium at Le Mans. The reigning Moto2 World Champion finished second behind Thomas Luthi.
Rabat, who qualified fourth fastest, was able to get to the front of the field in the early laps and fought with Luthi and Johann Zarco throughout the race but ultimately the Swiss rider was able to open a gap while Rabat was fighting his way past Zarco.
For Rabat the race was another indication of how he has recovered the form of last year that saw him dominate the Moto2 class and with Mugello next on the calendar Rabat will be looking to build his title momentum, having improved to sixth in the championship standings to trail Zarco by just 36 points.
Alex Marquez had a difficult weekend in France with the Spanish rookie crashing out of the race on the fourth lap. Marquez was starting from 21st on the grid and tried to give it everything to make up places in the early laps but he was struggling for grip from the start and crashed on the fourth lap of the race.
Tito Rabat: 2nd
“I’m happy because we have improved the bike and I’m feeling much happier with it. It was a good race here in Le Mans, but I know that we need to improve even more at the next race in Mugello if we are to start challenging once again for race wins. We’ve worked hard to get back on the podium, and for that I want to say a big thank you to the team.”
Alex Marquez: DNF
“In Moto2 it’s so difficult to come through the field and I had some problems in the first corners of the race with other riders and dropped to 25th. From the start I had some problems with the rear and I didn’t have much grip so I tried everything that I could. The crash was a bit strange because Louis Rossi crashed in front of me as well. I think that we need to make a reset before Mugello so that we can go there with 100% motivation and make some improvements. We need to get some good results for me, for the team and for my confidence.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“It was a fantastic race by Tito! I think that we’ve found the pace that we were looking for from the start of the race and he spent almost all the race in the 37’s. Maybe he was stuck behind Zarco for too long and if he had been able to get past earlier he may have been able to close the gap to Luthi. This was a good race for the championship because we finished in front of Zarco, Rins and Folger both crashed and didn’t score points so that’s good for Tito. For Alex it was a bit of bad luck because I was confident after the warmup that he was faster than the rest of the weekend and he was confident in the bike. To crash out of the race is a disappointment because he could have learned a lot with another finish but I hope that when we go to Mugello he’ll be at the same level as he was in this morning’s warm up.”
More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:
QMMF Racing Team celebrates strong team result with Simon in sixth and West in eleventh place
QMMF Racing Team celebrated a strong team result at the French Grand Prix, with Spanish rider Julian Simon riding to sixth and his Australian team-mate Anthony West scoring eleventh place.
Simon was within the top group of riders right from the start, finishing lap one in eighth position and moving up to seventh on lap three. For most of the race, he battled with his fellow countrymen Alex Rins and Luis Salom, but took advantage when his rivals crashed a few laps from the end of the race.
West rode a heroic race, winning not only the battle against German riders Marcel Schrötter and Sandro Cortese, who couldn’t keep his pace in the end, but also against his severe cold. Despite taking antibiotics to fight his flu on the practice days and before the race, West found enough energy to move up from 18th after lap one to eleventh when the chequered flag came down.
Julian Simon – 6th place
“We almost reached our goal. We aimed high yesterday saying a top five finish would be possible and today I finished sixth, which is not far off our target. My rhythm in the race was good, I was able to push a lot throughout the race and to ride consistently fast. The bike was better today than yesterday, I only had a small problem with the brake on the last lap, because the discs started to overheat. But all in all, I am happy because the team worked very well for today, especially on the chassis side. We are improving and getting a little bit better every race, which is important. My start was good, I managed to pass a few riders early on. I then wanted to go faster and to make up more positions, but it wasn’t possible, so I remained with Rins and Salom and had a good fight. I hope we can climb the next step in Mugello and do even better, but for the moment I am happy!”
Anthony West – 11th place
“The finish and the result are quite okay with the points we took. I am just disappointed with the sickness I had, I feel ill and I was a little bit weak in some of the chicanes changing direction. You need a lot of strength in those chicanes here to change direction and I just didn’t have the power, so I missed the turn a few times. On the rest of the track, I was quite strong apart from an issue with grip in some corners. I then had a long and exciting battle with Cortese. At the beginning of the race, I felt I was faster than him and I was fighting hard, but he was pulling away on the straights. I kept fighting and luckily, towards the end, the lap times of Cortese and my other rivals dropped off a bit whereas I was able to stay consistent, so I got Cortese back and was able to pass him. Now I am happy the race is over and I can rest again. I will continue with the antibiotics the doctor gave me. I feel they are working, but it’s the wrong time to take them when you are trying to ride!”
More, from a press release issued by KTM:
FENATI TAKES MOTO3 VICTORY AT LE MANS
Sky Racing Team VR46’s Romano Fenati topped the podium at the Moto3 GP of France at Le Mans on Sunday to give him, and KTM their first win of the 2015 season.
The Italian racer was a major contender right from the start of the 24-lap race, which was Round Five of the 2015 Moto3 World Championship. He won the race by just 0.122 ahead of fellow Italians Enea Bastianini and Francesco Bagnaia in what was one of the tightest finishes so far this season.
The race was always going to be interesting after grid positions were decided after only one lap in qualifying on Saturday, when rain started very early into the session.
But Fenati is a fighter and he was in contention right from the second lap. Apart from some jockeying for positions at the front of the field near the end of the race, the Italian held the lead for most of the race. He managed to put a gap between him and his pursuers between laps seven and nine but Bastianini and the young French rider Fabio Quartararo were on his tail the whole time. Quartararo made an untimely exit in lap 18 setting up a four-way battle between Fenati, Bastianini, Bagnaia and Nicolo Antonelli for the available podium places. But Fenati fought them off and crossed the line to take his first win of the season.
Romano Fenati: “The start of the season was very difficult but we have worked hard and today we got the victory. The bike was perfect and the tire was also okay. I am really happy because today we’ve proved a lot.”
Czech KTM rider Jakub Kornfeil finished sixth and Miguel Oliveira of Red Bull KTM Ajo crossed the line in eighth place after holding a strong fourth place right up to Lap 17. Teammate Karel Hanika is recovering from wrist surgery and had to start in the pit lane because of an incident after the GP of Spain but he fought hard to finish twentieth. Brad Binder, the team’s third rider, crashed out in the very early stages through no fault of his own.
Miguel Oliveira: “I didn’t have quite enough of a good feeling with the rear to open the throttle early. I was fighting at the front but six or seven laps before the end I ran wide and it was difficult to regain ground.”
Red Bull KTM Ajo Team Manager Aki Ajo: Today was definitely not our day in Moto3. Brad (Binder) had some very bad luck in the first corner when another rider took him out and he couldn’t do anything about it. Karel (Hanika) also had a difficult race so we couldn’t expect too much. As for Miguel, we have to analyze the data from today and see why we couldn’t be stronger, and we have to look at the set-up to see what we can improve for the next race.”
Next Round: May 31, Mugello
More at www.motogo.com
Moto GP of France – Le Mans Circuit – Round 5
Moto3 Results
1, Romano Fenati, ITA, KTM, 41:22.829
2, Enea Bastianini, ITA, Honda, 41:22.951
3, Francesco Bagnaia, ITA, Mahindra, 41:23.286
4, Danny Kent, GBR, Honda, 41:23.522
5, Niccolo Antonelli, ITA, Honda, 41:25.073
6, Jakub Kornfeil, CZE, KTM, 41:25.250
7, Isaac Viñales, ESP, Husqvarna, 41:25.416
8, Miquel Oliveira, POR, KTM, 41:26.894
9, Andrea Migno ITA, KTM, 41:37.705
10, Philipp Oettl, GER, KTM, 41:45.417
Other KTM
14, Zulfahmi Khairuddin, MAL, KTM, 41:49.506
18, Ana Carrasco, ESP, KTM, 42:01.808
20, Karel Hanika, CZE, KTM, 42:21.011
DNF, Niklas Ajo, FIN, KTM, 36:28.431
DNF, Gabriel Rodrigo, ARG, KTM
DNF, Brad Binder, RSA, KTM
Moto3 Standings after Round 5
1, Kent, 104
2, Bastianini, 67
3, Vazquez, 60
4, Quartararo, 52
5, Fenati, 51
6, Viñales, 47
7, Brad Binder, RSA, KTM, 44
8, Oliveira, 41
9, Bagnaia, 37
10, John McPhee, GBR, Honda, 28
Other KTM
13, Hanika, 18
14, Kornfeil, 17
17, Migno, 11
18, Oettl, 11
20, Ajo, 8
25, Khairuddin, 2
Moto3 Manufacturers Standings after Round 5
1, Honda, 120
2, KTM, 75
3, Husqvarna, 47
More, from a press release issued by Forward Racing:
Le Mans gives no joy to the Athinà Forward Racing team
The Moto2 Grand Prix of Le Mans ends leaving a bitter taste on the mouth of the Athinà Forward Racing riders. Simone Corsi and Lorenzo Baldassarri, after a good performance in the warm-up this morning, struggled in the race and crossed the line in 18th and 21th position respectively.
After a good start, when he was starting to see the points, Simone Corsi lost confidence on the front and made a mistake on the first corner. The Italian had to give up several positions and he was not able to close the gap with the group in front of him.
Challenging weekend also for his teammate Lorenzo Baldassarri who also missed a corner. Starting in 22nd position, he finished the race in 21th.
Simone Corsi
“It was a difficult weekend for us. I I had a good start but after a few laps I missed a corner and I lost several positions. In the warm-up the feeling was not bad but in the race I was struggling and I could not push hard. We have to come back stronger for Mugello”.
Lorenzo Baldassarri
“It was not the race I imagined. I did not have a good start and I lost several positions. In an attempt to recover, I went too long on the brakes and I hit the barriers. I went back out to finish the race because it is important to have more kilometers on the shoulders but it’s really a shame as we have a good potential”.