MotoGP. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) matches the Stoner’s record with victory in Le Mans.

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Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) took a record-breaking victory at the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France, which sees the reigning World Champion equal Casey Stoner’s 38 premier class wins – and surpass Mike Hailwood’s win record. Alma Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci was a superb second to take his first podium of the season – and from the front row – with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) returning to rostrum in third place after a more difficult run of races for the ‘Doctor’.

Sadly, however, the French fairytale wasn’t to be for Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), as the home hero crashed out at Turn 8 on lap eight after re-passing Marquez for second in the fight at the front. Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was another rider to crash, falling out of contention on lap one at la Chapelle after making a good start. In yet more drama for the standings, Championship contender Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) made a rare error at the same corner four laps later, making Le Mans another pivotal race in the Championship.

At the start, it was Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) who got the holeshot from the second row, repeating his incredible launch of the Spanish GP to take off in the lead – and hold onto it. Zarco dropped from pole but then struck back almost immediately into the chicane to take second, with Petrucci, Dovizioso, Marquez and Rossi all close at the front until Iannone crashed out – leaving a gap back to Marquez as the two Ducatis and Zarco stayed close together at the front.

The Frenchman then headed slightly wide and Dovizioso struck, honing in on teammate Lorenzo in the lead and not leaving long before trying an attack. Getting the job done quickly, it seemed the Italian was then going to unleash his pace shown in practice – but he suddenly slid out of the lead and into the gravel, leaving the number 99 of Lorenzo’s Ducati out front.

Zarco and Marquez closed in before the reigning Champion shot past the Frenchman for second – but Zarco, in signature style, was quick to respond. The second bolt of drama was about to hit the race, however, as the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider then slid off at Turn 8 – leaving Marquez vs Lorenzo in the lead.

On Lap 10, the number 93 made his move before Petrucci followed the Honda rider through a lap later. Rossi and Miller soon carved their way past the five-time World Champion, who started the race on softer rubber, with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) waiting in the wings.

The gap between Marquez, Petrucci, Rossi and Miller stayed consistent, with all four exchanging quickest laps. That was until six-time World Champion Marquez pulled the pin on Lap 16, setting the fastest lap of the race to bridge the gap to a second over the chasing GP18. From there, Marquez was able to stretch the gap tenth by tenth, with Petrucci also keeping nine-time World Champion Rossi at bay. Pedrosa was later able to pass Lorenzo for fifth, with the Ducati rider having to settle for sixth.

Further down the order, after failing to get the start he was looking for, last year’s winner Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) made his way back up to seventh after being outside the top ten for the first half of the race. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) had a great ride, holding onto eighth until the last lap but then coming home ninth. Passing him on the last lap was a superhuman Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), who had a magnificent ride battling to P8 from 13th on the grid – riding through the pain barrier after a huge highside on Saturday.

Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) battled with Viñales and Espargaro throughout the race, eventually rounding out the top ten in his first ride at the track in the premier class, having missed the event in 2017 due to injury. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) picked up another solid result in P11 for some more good points for KTM, with Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) eventually getting the better of Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) to finish as top rookie.

That’s it for Le Mans, and it’s now time to gear up for Mugello. Marquez extends his Championship lead to 36 points but the Italians will be out in force to try and stop him – can his momentum be stalled?

HJC HELMETS GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE

MotoGP Race Classification 2018.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	162.0	41’49.773
2	20	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Alma Pramac Racing	Ducati	161.9	+2.310
3	16	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	161.7	+5.350
4	13	43	Jack MILLER	AUS	Alma Pramac Racing	Ducati	161.6	+6.314
5	11	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	161.6	+7.419
6	10	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Ducati Team	Ducati	161.4	+10.355
7	9	25	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	160.5	+23.758
8	8	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	160.4	+25.795
9	7	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	160.4	+26.206
10	6	42	Alex RINS	SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	160.2	+27.937
11	5	44	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	160.0	+32.304
12	4	55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	159.8	+34.962
13	3	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	159.6	+37.881
14	2	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	159.6	+38.299
15	1	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	159.4	+41.986
16		12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	159.2	+45.260
17		17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Angel Nieto Team	Ducati	158.4	+56.872
18		10	Xavier SIMEON	BEL	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	157.5	+1’12.117
Not Classified
		45	Scott REDDING	GBR	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	158.5	17 Laps
		53	Tito RABAT	SPA	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	147.3	17 Laps
		5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	148.2	19 Laps
		4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	160.3	23 Laps
		19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Angel Nieto Team	Ducati	149.0	26 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki		0 Lap

MotoGP World Standing 2018.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	95
2	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	SPA	59
3	Johann ZARCO	Yamaha	FRA	58
4	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	56
5	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	54
6	Jack MILLER	Ducati	AUS	49
7	Andrea IANNONE	Suzuki	ITA	47
8	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	46
9	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	46
10	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	29
11	Tito RABAT	Ducati	SPA	24
12	Alex RINS	Suzuki	SPA	22
13	Pol ESPARGARO	KTM	SPA	18
14	Jorge LORENZO	Ducati	SPA	16
15	Franco MORBIDELLI	Honda	ITA	16
16	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia	SPA	13
17	Hafizh SYAHRIN	Yamaha	MAL	13
18	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	SPA	12
19	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Honda	JPN	10
20	Mika KALLIO	KTM	FIN	6
21	Scott REDDING	Aprilia	GBR	5
22	Bradley SMITH	KTM	GBR	5
23	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	CZE	1
24	Thomas LUTHI	Honda	SWI
25	Xavier SIMEON	Ducati	BEL

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motoGP.com

MotoGP. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) matches the Stoner’s record with victory in Le Mans.

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HJC HELMETS GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE

MotoGP World Standing 2018.

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