World Championship hoping for good weather in France.
Alex Barros, third last year in Le Mans, ready to face a new challenge on the Repsol Honda RC211V.
After the flood at the atypical Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago, the World Championship will be holding the third round of the 2004 season this weekend in France. The whole circus is keeping an eye on the weather forecasts, hoping for an improvement. The mythic Le Mans circuit, world-famous for its 24-hour car and motorbike races, will use a shorter track variant this time, where slow corners will be playing the leading role, thus demanding a special motorbike setting with an excellent compromise between braking stability and good acceleration coming out of the angles. Alex Barros, who clinched his first podium of the season in Jerez under heavy shower in an extremely delicate race, comes back to the only place where he managed to get on the podium last season.
Although it is a circuit that fits better to the technical features of the Yamahas, the Brazilian rider is in an almost perfect physical shape and very confident after the last race. The doctors who have been following his recovery after the shoulder surgery have discharged him already so Barros has decided to go for a podium finish in France and fight for the victory. His teammate Hayden who got a meritorious fifth place in his second wet race on the RC211V in Jerez, right behind Rossi, gets back to Le Mans, where he had one of his worst performances of the 2003 season. The rain and the track conditions during the race, half dry and half wet, were the main reasons for the final twelfth position of the North American rider. With a year of experience and after his preseason results and his performance in the first two races of this season, Hayden will look for his first chance to get on the 2004 podium in France. Rubén Xaus and his Ducati arrive in a circuit where the Repsol rider has only lapped once while he was taking part in the Supersport World Championship. But that was long ago and this weekend Ruben will try to score his first points in the MotoGP World Championship.
In the 250, Fonsi Nieto got a good dose of self-confidence after his podium in Jerez in front of his fans, and the winner of the 2002 French Grand Prix will surely try to grow the laurels green again this weekend. Fourth in 2003, the Repsol rider had an average season start in South Africa after a hard preseason, but Le Mans is one of his favourite circuits and the best scenery to start his particular quest for the title. And while Fonsi tries to get back the rhythm, his teammate Sebastián Porto will be trying to get the longed for victory which hasnt arrived yet although he is considered to be one of the big favourites this season and with no doubt the fastest rider of the quarter-litre class so far. Seventh two weeks ago in Jerez and fifth in the overall standings, the Argentinean rider has not very good memories of his last performance in Le Mans, where he was hit by the reigning 250cc World Champion Manuel Poggiali in the first lap, meaning the end of race for the Repsol rider.
In the 125, Sergio Gadea will continue with his particular journey to circuits completely unknown to him. After finishing very close to the points in Jerez, Gadea will race in France still eager to score his first points as soon as possible. Pablo Nieto, ninth in Jerez, gets back to the track were he managed to finish fifth last year. After the two first races of the season, his aim is to get on the podium in France and to fight for the victory. To make it, Pablo will have to work hard on his start, with no doubt his Achilles heel this season.
