This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MotoGP 2014 Round 5 - Monster Energy Grand Prix de France

duc

Joined Jan 2013
324 Posts | 196+
Northwest
MotoGP 2014 Round 5
Monster Energy Grand Prix de France


101.jpg


Circuit info
  • Length: 4.185 m / 2.600 miles
  • Width: 13m
  • Left corners: 4
  • Right corners: 9
  • Longest straight: 674 m / 0.419 miles
  • Constructed: 1966
  • Modified: 2008
  • Laps: 28
  • Total Distance: 117.2 km - 72.8 miles

Introduction:
Built in 1965 around the existing 24-Hour track, the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit lies 5km south of the city of Le Mans and 200km south-west of Paris. The venue has hosted Grand Prix since the late sixties but a serious accident to Spanish rider Alberto Puig in 1995 saw it struck off the calendar until 2000 whilst stringent safety improvements were carried out.

Le Mans is a tight track dominated by first gear corners that place the emphasis on late braking and hard acceleration, whilst rear end traction is also a key area. With the capacity to comfortably accommodate up to 100,000 spectators, the Bugatti circuit also plays host to the 24 hour truck race, the FIA GP2 Championship, French Touring Car and GT races.
 
New tires with better edge grip brings Lorenzo out of his funk, but until someone proves otherwise, you have to bet on Marquez. As of right now, weather looks favorable.

Marquez
Lorenzo
Pedrosa
Rossi
Bautista
Dovi
Bradl
Smith
A Espargaro
P Espargaro
Crutchlow
Hayden
 
Pedrosa holds 3 of the 4 MotoGP records here. Marquez holds all 4 Moto2 records here.
 
Pedrosa holds 3 of the 4 MotoGP records here. Marquez holds all 4 Moto2 records here.

Records dont seem to matter at the moment, they are simply there to be shattered. At Jerez, Marquez had never won in any class, then went out and dominated the weekend
 
It was probably an easy decision for both of them....MM wants the bike that allows him to win in the easiest possible way, and Honda want a consistent winner and champion....

So Silly Season already in full swing....

predictions for france

MM
Rossi
Dani
JLo
Smith
A.Espagaro
Iannone
Bautista
Bradl
P.Espagaro
CC
Dovi
Aoyama
Redding
....
 
Today, from Rossi:

"I am very happy about the weekend in Jerez, unfortunately I wasn’t able to win over (Marc) Marquez but I managed to win over (Dani) Pedrosa and Jorge (Lorenzo). I am also happy about the test done on the following Monday at the same track. During the test I continued to work on the new chassis and I like it, it helps me especially with the front tyre. At Le Mans I will have only one new chassis but I am confident that Yamaha will bring me the second chassis as soon as possible. I want to continue the work on this. I made good times during the test, even the "time attack" was good and so I will try to start from the front row at Le Mans. It’s a positive moment for me because I'm pretty fast, I work well in the box and I think we can be very optimistic. We can have a good race."

Source - motogp.com · Rossi looking for more success with new chassis
 
LeMans will tell about how things are going to go for alot of the riders when the new tires with supposedly better edge grip are introduced.

We may see a complete reversal in Lorenzo and Rossi's performance.
 
Today, Rossi told MCN:

"I like Le Mans and I have had some good results in the past but then arrive the best tracks for me and the ones I was quite competitive at last year. I am quite confident that I can fight with everybody because I am faster this year and I hope also to fight with Marquez. I feel very good and I enjoy riding and now I can get good results. But it always depends on your speed on the track. When you are fast like Marquez your mental condition is very good. When you are slow like me with the Ducati, the mental condition is more difficult."
 

Attachments

  • rossi-marquez.jpg
    rossi-marquez.jpg
    80.9 KB
Today, Rossi told MCN:

"I like Le Mans and I have had some good results in the past but then arrive the best tracks for me and the ones I was quite competitive at last year. I am quite confident that I can fight with everybody because I am faster this year and I hope also to fight with Marquez. I feel very good and I enjoy riding and now I can get good results. But it always depends on your speed on the track. When you are fast like Marquez your mental condition is very good. When you are slow like me with the Ducati, the mental condition is more difficult."

Looks like Rossi is trying to show Marc the fine art of eating ......
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
FP1

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 34.328s [Lap 20/20] 304km/h (Top Speed)
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 34.517s +0.189s [21/21] 307km/h
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 34.581s +0.253s [19/19] 306km/h
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 34.598s +0.270s [18/18] 308km/h
5. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 34.653s +0.325s [19/20] 309km/h
6. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m 34.734s +0.406s [7/21] 306km/h
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 34.875s +0.547s [14/20] 305km/h
8. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 34.929s +0.601s [11/22] 306km/h
9. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 34.933s +0.605s [19/21] 304km/h
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 35.073s +0.745s [13/16] 300km/h
11. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 35.431s +1.103s [17/17] 306km/h
12. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 35.438s +1.110s [19/20] 304km/h
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 35.638s +1.310s [18/20] 297km/h
14. Nicky Hayden USA Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 35.762s +1.434s [8/19] 290km/h
15. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 36.149s +1.821s [17/18] 302km/h
16. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 36.458s +2.130s [10/19] 302km/h
17. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R)* 1m 36.663s +2.335s [16/17] 289km/h
18. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Avintia)* 1m 37.026s +2.698s [4/20] 291km/h
19. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R) 1m 37.120s +2.792s [13/14] 297km/h
20. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Avintia) 1m 37.404s +3.076s [19/19] 291km/h
21. Broc Parkes AUS Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART)* 1m 38.933s +4.605s [12/16] 285km/h
22. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m 39.055s +4.727s [15/17] 293km/h
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
FP2
1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 33.452s [Lap 14/20] 305km/h (Top Speed)
2. Andrea Iannone ITA Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 33.459s +0.007s [17/22] 306km/h
3. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 33.668s +0.216s [17/21] 308km/h
4. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 33.920s +0.468s [17/20] 306km/h
5. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 33.942s +0.490s [17/22] 307km/h
6. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m 34.040s +0.588s [20/21] 308km/h
7. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 34.054s +0.602s [7/21] 307km/h
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 34.117s +0.665s [6/19] 306km/h
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 34.134s +0.682s [16/16] 300km/h
10. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 34.498s +1.046s [21/21] 304km/h
11. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 34.506s +1.054s [22/23] 306km/h
12. Yonny Hernandez COL Pramac Racing (Desmosedici) 1m 34.877s +1.425s [15/18] 299km/h
13. Cal Crutchlow GBR Ducati Team (Desmosedici) 1m 34.907s +1.455s [7/19] 306km/h
14. Nicky Hayden USA Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 34.961s +1.509s [7/19] 291km/h
15. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha) 1m 35.089s +1.637s [17/17] 298km/h
16. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m 35.229s +1.777s [7/19] 297km/h
17. Scott Redding GBR Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R)* 1m 35.424s +1.972s [11/18] 290km/h
18. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R) 1m 35.818s +2.366s [19/19] 295km/h
19. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Avintia) 1m 36.418s +2.966s [13/20] 294km/h
20. Mike Di Meglio FRA Avintia Racing (Avintia)* 1m 36.612s +3.160s [16/18] 292km/h
21. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m 36.742s +3.290s [16/19] 293km/h
22. Broc Parkes AUS Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART)* 1m 37.136s +3.684s [11/11] 285km/h
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
It's nice to see a Ducati right on MM's ...

Yes... unfortunately on the super softs. Either way it looks like Ducati is going in the right direction for once. I say get rid of Crutchlow and put Iannone on the Factory Ducati next year.
 
Marquez has the potential to achieve some new records:

- Victory would make him the youngest ever rider, at the age of 21 years and 90 days, to win five successive races in the premier class, taking the record from Mike Hailwood who was 22 years and 160 days old when he won five successive races in the 500 class in 1962, riding an MV Agusta.

- By winning in France, he could become the first rider since Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha in 2008 to win five successive MotoGP races.

- He could become the first rider since Giacomo Agostini in 1972, riding an MV Agusta, to win the opening five races of the year in the premier class.

- If Marquez qualifies on pole and wins the race, this would be the first time that a rider has won five or more successive premier class races from pole since Mick Doohan, on a Honda, won ten successive races from pole in 1997.

- If Marquez is the fastest qualifier at Le Mans, this will mark the first time that a rider has started from pole at six or more consecutive MotoGP races since Casey Stoner was on pole at seven successive races in 2008, riding a Ducati.