Second consecutive victory for Dani Pedrosa, who takes lead in World Championship standings. Marc Marquez fights back from ninth to third.
Dani Pedrosa won today’s French Grand Prix to break past 3000 career points in the World Championship, adding 25 to his tally with his latest victory. The Repsol Honda rider had an extraordinary race at the historic Le Mans circuit, tackling a tricky track that had been made slippery by rainfall minutes before the start. He was joined on the podium by Cal Crutchlow and Marc Márquez, who made a spectacular comeback from ninth place to finish third.
Starting from sixth position on a cold, wet track, Dani Pedrosa overtook three riders off the start and pegged onto Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo. He was able to get past them on the opening laps, but had to make another move on Dovizioso later on when he had a couple of scares to let the Italian through. After making his definitive pass, he crossed the finish line more than 4 seconds ahead of second-placed Crutchlow.
The Briton reached the chequered flag just ahead of Marc Marquez, who was unable to use the pole position start to his advantage. The Repsol Honda rider experienced wheel sliding and dropped down to ninth place within a matter of seconds. Mounting an incredible comeback, Marquez began to overtake his rivals and was able to reach the podium positions with two laps remaining. He was only 2 seconds behind Crutchlow by the end, taking 16 points for his World Championship tally.
With this result, Dani Pedrosa becomes the new leader in the class with 83 points. His win was his 24th in the premier class –equaling Waine Rainey and Jorge Lorenzo. Marquez, on 77 points, lies second overall with an advantage of 11 points over Jorge Lorenzo. It had been 15 years since a rookie last took four podiums from his first 4 races in the premier class.
Dani Pedrosa >> Audio
1st – 49:17.707
“I’m very happy, because I have earnt an important victory. I’ve been trying to win at this circuit for many years in MotoGP and it has always been a tough track for me. Today, the moment finally arrived, when I least expected it, and it is immensely satisfying. Conditions here are usually against me, because it is cold and I don’t like riding in these temperatures, but today I got the best out of myself. The bike was also good, above all on the opening laps when the track was very wet. I made a few mistakes but I was able to recover from them, maintain the advantage and win the race. I’d like to thank all my team and also my supporters!”
Marc Marquez >> Audio
3rd at 6.949 sec.
“This podium almost counts as a win as it was my first wet race in MotoGP and I wasn’t expecting to finish in the top three. Also, bearing in mind that I had dropped quite far back from the front, third place and 16 points is an important achievement for the World Championship. We can say that this was a very good weekend; we had a good setting for the dry, but when it rained it was up to me to learn from the mistakes that I made at the start of the race. I need to improve, because I was finding it hard to ride with water on the track. It will be difficult to maintain our performance at Mugello, but we will go there and try 100%. I congratulate Dani on great race and victory and I’d like to thank the whole team!”
