French GP – MotoGP French GP report: Petrucci winner at Le Mans –

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MotoGP French GP report: Petrucci winner at Le Mans

French GP - MotoGP French GP report: Petrucci winner at Le Mans -

Danilo Petrucci wins his first wet track 2020 victory at Le Mans, after a French Grand Prix marked by twists and turns. The Ducati official wins ahead of Alex Marquez and Pol Espargaro, while Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo finish fifth and ninth respectively. Report and results.

The climate of Le Mans once again plays into the disturbances at the start of the MotoGP event, postponed by a few minutes because the rain falls on the circuit when the MotoGP takes place on the grid … A starting procedure fast is engaged during which the rain tires are installed. Then the prototypes come out for a shortened race from 27 to 26 laps.

  • GP of France:
  • MNC special file :

The formation lap takes place on a completely soggy track and in a downpour, while large threatening clouds leave little hope of clearing for the 5,000 spectators allowed to attend the race in the stands….

Cal Crutchlow literally leaps out of his place, but gets the holeshot stolen by Jack Miller on his Ducati, followed by Dovizioso, Quartararo and Petrucci. Catastrophe for Rossi: the Italian loses the lead in the change of angle of the Dunlop and goes to the mat, for the third time in a row! To believe that the formalization of his transfer to Petronas distracts the Doctor…

Petrucci, invisible since his victory at Mugello last year, steals the lead from Miller before the end of the first round. As is often the case in the wet, the Ducatis have a festival with this "Petrucci-Miller-Dovizioso" hat-trick, which quickly forge a substantial lead over Quartararo, Espargaro and Crutchlow. 

Pol Espargaro perceives the danger and easily overtakes Fabio Quartararo for fourth place. The KTM official was attacked shortly after by Alex Rins, the second fastest rider on the track on his Suzuki. Uncomfortable in these conditions they are discovering, Fabio continues to lose places: Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith – fast in the wet, in good English! – relegate him to 7th place.

Then it was Miguel Oliveira’s turn to overtake the leader of the world championship, hampering him in his maneuver. Alex Marquez took the opportunity to infiltrate the wheels of the No. 20 Yamaha, which then saw Takaaki Nakgami overtake him: "El Diablo" went from first to 11th place in the space of five laps. Hard…

Quartararo suffering in the wet, Ducati at the party

While Danilo Petrucci continues to lead the proceedings in front of his teammate and Jack Miller, Alex Rins continues his effort to pick up the three Ducatis located two seconds ahead. The Suzuki official takes half a second in the lap of the leading trio, warned by their team of this intense comeback of No. 42. 

Bradley Smith was poorly rewarded for his good racing: the Aprilia rider fell and had to retire, shortly afterwards imitated by Tito Rabat. For his part, Johann Zarco overtook Fabio Quartararo for tenth place, more than 13 seconds behind the leader. Unfortunately, the French do not rain or shine at home…

With his spectacular comeback, Alex Rins went on the offensive 13 laps from the checkered flag: the Suzuki rider overtook Jack Miller, who rebelled and regained his third place. The four men were followed to two seconds by Pol Espargaro, who closed the gap with Alex Marquez in his wake.. 

Cal Crutchlow and Miguel Oliveira followed a short distance away, while Franco Morbidelli made a mistake in the Dunlop. The Italian-Brazilian manages to start again … to retire just after due to a "mechanical problem", reports his team Petronas-SRT

Cal Crutchlow in his turn made a mistake which sent him into the gravel, as an intense fight began for first place between Dovizioso and Petrucci. The fight benefits Alex Rins, who tries to overtake his three opponents in one fell swoop thanks to a slowdown caused by these overtaking ! 

Rins manages to interfere between the Ducatis, before losing the front in turn 3! Disaster scenario also for Jack Miller, betrayed by his mechanics while he played the podium, even the victory. The Australian fulminates, while Rins sets off again on the track with a marshal’s strap still attached to the back of his Suzuki! The Spaniard will have to stop to get rid of it, again losing precious seconds.

Rid of the threat of his rivals after all these incidents, Danilo Petrucci took the lead with 1.5 seconds ahead of Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian is now under threat from Alex Marquez, who has had his best race since arriving at HRC. Pol Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira are in ambush.

Alex Marquez – decidedly in great shape – continued his effort: the n ° 73 doubled Andrea Dovizioso to steal second place, 1.8 seconds behind Petrucci. "Dovi" must also give in to the attacks of Pol Espargaro and try somehow to resist Miguel Oliveira. The official Ducati rider is in agony at the end of the race, probably because of end-of-life tires…

Great firsts at Le Mans

Johann Zarco, on the other hand, is in a strong dynamic on his Ducati Avintia: the Cannes driver puts on a fantastic boost that gives him access to fifth place, while Fabiuo Quartararo finally finishes in 9th place.

Danilo Petrucci passed under the checkered flag as the winner, signing his second success in the premier class after that obtained last year in the dry at Mugello (Italy). "Petrux" becomes the first Ducati rider to win at Le Mans: something to delight his future employer, Herve Poncharal at KTM-Tech3! The Italian is also the seventh different winner of this funny season.

Another major first: the splendid second place at 1.2 seconds by Alex Marquez, who started from 18th place on the grid! The Spanish rookie kills two birds with one stone as it is both his best MotoGP result, but also the best performance of a Honda rider this season !

Pol Espargaro completes this podium trusted by three motorcycles of identical engine architecture (a V4), but from different manufacturers: Ducati, Honda and KTM. Race look: Espargaro finishes behind the driver he will replace next year at HRC !

The point (s) in the championship

Fabio Quartararo retains the first place in the provisional, despite his mixed performance at home: 9th at 16.687 sec, the Nice literally rolled on eggshells not to compromise his real possibilities of being titled. Can we blame him? Certainly not: it was his first MotoGP race in the wet and the crashes of much more experienced riders illustrate how easy the limit was to cross !

It is not Valentino Rossi, author of his third consecutive white result, who will say the opposite: the nine-time world champion tumbles to 13th place in the standings, just ahead of Marc Alex Marquez who on the other hand achieves a breakthrough equal to points with Johann Zarco (47 pts). The big brother – still in rehabilitation for his arm – must be proud of his younger brother !

Eleventh at the finish line, Joan Mir saves his second place in the standings: the Suzuki rider nevertheless gives up two units on the leader, with 105 points against 115. Another reason why Fabio was wise not to attempt madness: the winner Petrucci and Marquez are not dangerous in the championship, while Mir finishes behind the tricolor. 

Andrea Dovizioso, long in contention for victory before collapsing for lack of grip, took advantage of his 4th place at Le Mans to reduce his gap over Quartararo and Mir with 97 points on the clock, ie 18 less than Fabio. Note that "DesmoDovi" let it be known this weekend that he was studying a manufacturer‘s proposal to become a test pilot…

The Italian has remained discreet about the identity of this potential future employer, while the door is still open at Aprilia if Andrea Iannone could not resume the handlebars next year because of his suspension for doping….

Maverick Viñales, 10th at Le Mans, appears in fourth position in the provisional classification with only a small point behind Dovizioso (96 pts). The Spaniard is ahead of Takaaki Nakagami, who systematically plays in position failing to really shine: his consistency pays off since the Japanese are the first Honda rider.

Note that the championship remains extremely open since the Top 5 is held in only 34 points: rarely the positions are so tight at this stage of the season, while nine races have already been contested. So much the better for the show, so much the worse for the nerves of the pilots !

The next MotoGP race will take place in Spain with the Aragon Grand Prix scheduled for next Sunday. It will be followed the following week by the unprecedented Grand Prix of Teruel on the same circuit.

MotoGP results of the French GP 2020

  1. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 45’54.736
  2. Alex MARQUEZ Honda +1.273
  3. Pol ESPARGARO KTM +1.711
  4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati +3.911
  5. Johann ZARCO Ducati +4.310
  6. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM +4.466
  7. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda +5.921
  8. Stefan BRADL Honda +15.597
  9. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha +16.687
  10. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha +16.895
  11. Joan MIR Suzuki +16.980
  12. Brad BINDER KTM +27.321
  13. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati +33.351
  14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia +39.176
  15. Iker LECUONA KTM +51.087
  16. Alex RINS Suzuki + 1’14.190

Not classified 

  • Jack MILLER Ducati 7 Tours
  • Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 8 Tours
  • Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 9 Tours
  • Tito RABAT Ducati 12 Laps
  • Bradley SMITH Aprilia 18 Tours
  • Valentino ROSSI Yamaha

Provisional MotoGP classification at Le Mans

  1.   Yamaha 115
  2. Suzuki 105
  3. Ducati 97
  4. Yamaha 96
  5. Honda 81
  6. Yamaha 77
  7. Ducati 75
  8. KTM 73
  9. KTM 69
  10. Ducati 64
  11. KTM 62
  12. Suzuki 60
  13. Yamaha 58
  14. Honda 47
  15. Ducati 47
  16. Ducati 42
  17. Aprilia 24
  18. KTM 18
  19. Honda 13
  20. Aprilia 11
  21. Honda 8
  22. Ducati 8
  23. Ducati 4

MotoGP manufacturer ranking at Le Mans

 French GP - MotoGP French GP report: Petrucci winner at Le Mans -

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