MotoGP Race And Practice Results

If the rain didn’t cause enough headaches for their premier class colleagues, the intermediate class had a nightmare decision to make, the race being declared wet, with dark clouds gathering above, but with a drying line persuading riders to swap to slicks. As if that drama wasn’t enough, poleman Joe Roberts got into trouble swapping tyres on the grid and was forced to start from the back of the grid – or would have started there, had the lights not gone off before the American made it into position. With one favourite out of contention before the race even started, it was a bittersweet race for Britain, Sam Lowes taking a long awaited victory after a heartbroken Jake Dixon abandoned the fight from the lead. Remy Gardner snatched second at the last possible moment from Marco Bezzecchi, after the Italian kept ahead for most of proceedings.

After Roberts’ mishap, Lowes was de facto pole but the Marc VDS rider could not take advantage off the line and Gardner made it to turn 1 first, ahead of Xavi Vierge, Jorge Martin and Lowes. Luca Marini made a steady start from the second row to only lose one position, while rival Enea Bastianini lost some more ground at the start, dropping down to 14th.

Gardner did not get much of a breather at the front, with attacks coming from Vierge and Lowes early on, the British rider starting the third lap in the lead. However, the lead group seemed to have already reduced to five names, Gardner, Dixon and Bezzecchi also in the mix, while Martin missed the boat by going wide, dropping over a second back and crashing out at turn 10 as he was pushing to catch up. That left Augusto Fernandez as the main pursuer, but over three seconds down and the same gap keeping him ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio. Quite a distance down the road, Marini and Bastianini were engaged in direct battle by lap five, the Italtrans rider progressing while the championship leader was going backwards.

Lowes did not have an easy time in the lead, getting Petronas branded headaches from Dixon and Vierge, but the latter simplified things as he highsided on the exit of turn 10. With Vierge out of contention, Lowes and Dixon were running away at the front, while Bezzecchi and Gardner struggled to keep up and dropped over three seconds back by lap seven. Things then got a bit hairy at the front for Lowes, his front locking going into turn 8 and allowing Dixon to grab the lead on lap seven, also handing him a three seconds advantage. With the battle for third comfortably behind him, Lowes pushed to reduce the gap to the leader but it looked like a tough ask. Meanwhile, Bezzecchi was fending off Gardner and Fernandez for the final podium spot, with Tom Luthi over 13 seconds back. Despite the confusing situation at the start, Roberts was knocking on the doors of the top ten for the final half of the race.

Lowes finally broke the one second barrier to Dixon with 13 long laps remaining, but Dixon responded beautifully with red hot laps that kept Lowes one second away until the closing stages. With Bezzecchi still holding off Gardner and Fernandez in the battle for third, the main action was coming from Roberts, who was sailing through the pack and climbed as high as seventh with five laps remaining.

Dixon looked in control for so long but disaster struck with four laps remaining, the Petronas rider sliding out at turn 14, handing compatriot Lowes the lead. Lowes brought it home safely to secure a long awaited victory, while Gardner sniffed around Bezzecchi on the final lap and it paid off at turn 13, the Australian taking second place away from the Italian. Fernandez and Luthi completed the top five, with Roberts a brilliant sixth given the circumstances, ahead of the Italian duo of Di Giannantonio and Lorenzo Baldassarri. Bastianini crossed the line ninth but got a three seconds penalty for taking the shortcut at turn 3, which dropped him to 11th, behind Somkiat Chantra and Marcel Schrotter.

Marini was out of point scoring positions by halfway stage and had a lonely ride to 17th place, but the Italian keeps the championship lead by 15 points from Bastianini, with teammate Bezzecchi 20 points behind. Lowes’s victory reduces his deficit significantly, 22 points down on Marini.

Results:

The lightweight class race opened the show on Sunday, in a sunny but cold morning in France that spelled disaster for some riders and great opportunities for others. The man who profited most, despite being the odd one out on tyre choice, was Celestino Vietti, who led the only lap that mattered – the last one – to secure victory in Le Mans and improve his chances in the world championship battle. Compatriot Tony Arbolino joined him on the podium and also got a touch closer to the title by finishing just ahead of new championship leader Albert Arenas.

Arenas had made a launch of SpaceX proportions when the lights went out, miles ahead of poleman Jaume Masia going into turn one and with Arbolino immediately attacking the Spaniard as well. Front row starter John McPhee dropped positions at the start and found himself outside of the top ten by the end of the first lap. Still, that seemed like a more likely comeback than Ai Ogura’s, the championship leader going into Le Mans getting pushed out of the top 20 after starting 17th.

Arenas’s dream start did not continue past lap 2, with Masia reclaiming top spot and encouraging the vultures to attack, pushing Arenas to the back of the top five. While the Spaniard was fighting his way back into the provisional podium positions, a lead group of 16 riders was starting to separate from the chasers by one second by lap five, with Ogura stuck in the second group and struggling to progress from 24th position.

Masia continued to lead the way for the next few laps, with Arbolino, Darryn Binder, Arenas and Gabriel Rodrigo providing the entertainment right behind him as they traded places. The lead group lost teammates Romano Fenati and Alonso Lopez at turn 13 of lap seven and Tatsuki Suzuki at turn 8 one lap later but it still didn’t help McPhee join the top ten.

Arenas was back on Masia’s tail by lap nine but bided his time for an attack and the mistake came on lap 11, when Masia lost momentum and allowed Arenas, Arbolino and Binder through into turn 7. However, Arenas only held onto the lead for a couple of laps, Masia’s Honda powering past at turn 1, with eight laps remaining, with Arbolino, Binder and Vietti quickly following his example and relegating Arenas to fifth once more. The Spaniard made quick work of Vietti and his mission got easier one lap later, when Binder’s KTM machine gave up and took the South African out of contention. That left Arenas in charge of the pursuit of the two Hondas and while he was dicing with Arbolino, rival McPhee got tangled in Jeremy Alcoba’s crash and abandoned the battle at turn 10. The flurry of late crashes, also including Kaito Toba and Niccolo Antonelli, promoted Ogura to 10th place all of a sudden, although over ten seconds behind the leaders.

Back at the front, Masia started the final two laps still ahead of the eight-man lead group but with Arenas, Arbolino and Vietti as the most vocal contenders for the podium. A slight mistake from Masia at turn 8 saw Vietti in charge of proceedings for the first time as the race entered its final lap, chased by Arbolino, Arenas and Masia. Although the foursome was close together, there was no opportunity for a move and Vietti took the checkered flag ahead of Arbolino and Arenas. Masia missed out on the podium once more, with Andrea Migno fifth, ahead of Ayumu Sasaki, Raul Fernandez and Rodrigo. Ogura managed to take control of the chasing pack in the closing laps to secure ninth place and reduce the damage in the world championship.

Arenas’ podium gives him back the lead in the championship, six points ahead of Ogura, with Vietti only 16 points down and Arbolino getting closer as well, 20 points back.

Results:

Results:

MotoE provided the first racing action of the weekend on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Le Mans and the handful of laps were nothing short of drama. Mattia Ferrari nailed the start to lead into turn 1, with Alejandro Medina the other big winner, going from seventh on the grid to second by turn three, ahead of Josh Hook and poleman Jordi Torres. Having started last, Mattia Casadei was unceremoniously dumped out of the title battle with a high side at turn three and his stricken machine prompted a red flag for safe removal. Without a lap being completed, the grid went back to original positions for the restarted five-lap race, which meant that the poleman got another shot to get it right.

Ferrari once again got the holeshot but turn 3 demanded more attention, with the Italian sliding out on his own while Xavier Simeon’s crash wiped out title rival Dominique Aegerter and Niccolo Canepa. After that dramatic start, Torres found himself one second ahead, with Niki Tuuli his main challenger but getting harassed by Mike Di Meglio and Josh Hook. However, Torres’ advantage did not last as the pursuers regrouped and the Spaniard was reeled in by Di Meglio and Tuuli, leaving Hook behind. The Frenchman tried to line up a move but never made one and Torres scored his first victory in the class to swing the championship lead his way. Di Meglio settled for second on home soil and Tuuli made a long overdue return to the podium, with Hook and Tommaso Marcon joining the top five – the Italian having started 11th with a grid penalty.

Class rookie Torres will enter tomorrow’s title decider 18 points ahead of Ferrari, while Aegerter managed to rejoin and get a couple points to trail the leader by 20.

Results: