Round 5 – Grand Prix of France (Le Mans)
TEAM PRAMAC D’ANTIN RETURN TO EUROPE FOR FRENCH
GP
 The
Pramac d’Antin team returns to Europe for the fifth
round of the 2007 MotoGP championship, the French GP, at the
Bugatti circuit in Le Mans this weekend. After an unlucky
race in Shanghai, all members of the Italo-Spanish team are
ready to face new challenges on French soil and look forward
to a competitive and enthralling race weekend.
The team has demonstrated its ability to score solid race
results since the beginning of the season with Alex Barros’s
fourth place in Turkey a highlight so far. The Brazilian’s
efforts last time out in China further underlined this potential
with a very competitive race pace on his way to recovering
from a first lap incident with Toni Elias. Barros set the
fourth fastest lap of the race.
His team-mate Alex Hofmann also performed strongly in China
to take ninth position and scored seven important points for
him and the team.
The French GP weekend will get underway on Friday 18 May
with the opening two free practice sessions leading up to
Sunday’s all-important GP
Alex Barros: "I know the French Le
Mans circuit well and I have already competed in a lot of
races there, including a third place podium finish in 2003.
The track isn’t particularly easy; it is very narrow
and is characterized by heavy braking and hard acceleration
which requires strong concentration. I’m still disappointed
with the final results from the last race in Shanghai. We
had an excellent bike set-up for the race but we were unfortunately
unable to it utilize it to the best. Now I’m ready for
Le Mans, but I hope to have more luck on my side. We are improving
a lot and, for this reason, I want to ride without being hindered
by other parties so that we know what we are really able to
achieve”
Alex Hofmann: “I’m very happy
to come back to Europe, because the atmosphere here is really
exciting. We made important progress both in Istanbul and
Shanghai but we are always aiming for more improvements. After
last weekend’s race, I’m optimistic and I hope
that in France we will able to be more competitive and above
all to have more luck. Certainly we have more work to do,
but we are very near to where we want to be and I’m
sure if we continue in this way we will get there. The track
isn’t one of my favourites because the nature of the
circuit demands a lot of heavy braking and hard acceleration
out of the slow, tight corners but obviously I will give my
best for a good result.
Luis d’Antin – General Director:
“We are happy to come back to Europe, because to dispute
races in our own continent gives us even more motivation.
I’m very satisfied with our team’s performance,
especially after the last two races where we showed can be
really competitive and target important results. All the Team
is working very well and both Barros and Hofmann give their
best all the time. The next race in France will not be very
easy because the track is quite difficult, but I hope everything
will work in our favour and hopefully with more luck on our
side”
THE CIRCUIT
Built in 1965, it was closed between 1995 and 2000 after
the heavy accident of Albert Puig. Its track is very narrow
and characterised by particular corners that force riders
into heavy braking and hard acceleration.
Opened: 1966
Modified: 2002
Length: 4180m
Width : 13m
Longest Straight: 450m
Right turns:9
Left turns:4
Pole position: left
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