Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez stormed to their third successive double podium of 2013 in tough wet conditions at the GP of France.
Dani, starting from 6th, performed his trademark lightning fast start and was up to 3rd by the first corner. He managed to pass Lorenzo on lap three and then had an intense battle with Dovizioso, swapping the lead, for eleven laps but finally passed him on lap fourteen and began to open up a gap and control the race. Teammate Marc, starting from pole, had a bad start and found himself down in 8th after the first lap. However, he used the opportunity to learn about racing a MotoGP bike in the wet and gradually made his way through the pack. After passing Lorenzo, Bradl crashed out and Rossi made a mistake which promoted him to 5th on lap 18. He then chased down Hayden and Dovizioso to claim a remarkable podium in very difficult conditions.
Dani now leads the Rider's World Championship standings with 83 points and Marc is second on 77 points. Honda increase the lead in the Constructor's Championship with 91 points to Yamaha's 77 and the Repsol Honda Team lead the Team Championship with 160 points, 47 ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing.
Lorenzo and Rossi Endure a Race of Attrition
Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi endured a nightmare race today in the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. Having enjoyed a dry track for both practice and qualifying the riders had to contend with full wet conditions to start today’s race.
Lorenzo started from second on the grid and was able to hold behind race leader Andrea Dovizioso initially until passed by Dani Pedrosa with 26 laps to go. As the laps wound down the reigning World Champion gradually dropped position, fighting a wet but slowly drying track with a less than optimum set up. Lorenzo eventually crossed the line in seventh place to claim nine Championship points that keep him in third position in the overall standings.
Rossi made a strong start from eighth on the grid and had moved up to fourth position by the second lap after some swift passes. The Italian was able to find a good race pace and was able to hold on in fourth with the potential to fight for the podium until a strange low side crash with 11 laps remaining of the race. Ross remounted and re-joined, nursing his damaged M1 home in 12th position to take four Championship points and sit in fifth in the overall standings.
Crutchlow claims career best result
Cal Crutchlow produced the ride of his MotoGP career in Le Mans today to claim a heroic podium in the home race of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.
Crutchlow’s career best MotoGP result and first rostrum of 2013 was secured on lap 24 when he attacked former Tech 3 teammate Dovizioso and today’s outstanding performance moved the former World Supersport Champion into fourth place in the World Championship standings with four of 18 rounds completed.
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