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- Marc Marquez is the only MotoGP rider to have finished on the podium at every race so far this season.
- Dani Pedrosa has scored 7 podium finishes from his 15 visits to the French track, 4 of them victories (in 125cc in 2003, 250cc in 2004 and 2005, and MotoGP in 2013).
- Marc Marquez has taken 3 pole positions from 3 MotoGP races at Le Mans.
Repsol Honda team riders reach the fifth round of the year, with Marc Marquez at the head of the World Championship standings and Dani Pedrosa fourth.
The French Grand Prix is the second European round of the year for the MotoGP World Championship. After leaving the Circuito de Jerez with a good feeling just over a week ago, following a positive race and Monday test, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa are back in action this weekend at the historic circuit of Le Mans –where both hold previous victories. Marquez comes into the French round leading the overall standings, thanks to two wins and two third positions from the first four races. Dani Pedrosa is fourth in the World Championship, and returns to a circuit where he has taken victory in three classes (125cc in 2003, 250cc in 2004 and 2005, and MotoGP in 2013).
Marc Marquez
“I like the Le Mans track although it requires that you be ready to deal with many variables. To begin with, the weather: you never know what it will do there. Last year the temperature rose significantly on Sunday and we suffered a lot with front grip in the race. Rain also isn’t unusual there. In addition, the track has a stop-and-go layout, with many slow turns where braking and acceleration are crucial. We’ll see if we find ourselves in a situation similar to Austin, where acceleration out of slow corners was a lot better than expected, or if we have to face a bigger challenge. During the last test in Jerez, we worked a lot on electronics and the chassis setting to find more grip, and on the balance of the bike to reduce wheelying. It’s always a compromise but I think we’ve gathered useful info for Le Mans and, knowing how far we’ve come since this winter and how quickly we’ve been able to react to many situations, I feel confident and look forward to starting the next racing weekend.”
Dani Pedrosa
“I enjoy the Bugatti circuit, and we’ve had good results there in the past, but this year there are some factors to consider. In the last race I couldn’t go full-throttle on the straights because the rear tyre was spinning too much, and I think that also in Le Mans a lot will depend on how the tyre will get grip from the track. Normally this isn’t a ‘super-grippy’ track, so we’ll have to continue working on that side in order to make it better. In the Jerez test, we tried to improve our feeling, testing different things such as suspension and some other solutions thought to provide more grip out of the turns and to make the bike faster into the tight corners. We’ll see if the info collected will be useful on a practical level in Le Mans. Finally, let’s hope the weather will be kind to us.”
