MotoGP World Championship. French GP. Preview
 THE
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO EUROPE WITH DANI PEDROSA LEADING
THE TOP CATEGORY
This weekend the French Grand Prix will take place, with
the Repsol riders again claiming their leadership
This is one of the most intense moments of the 2008 World
Motorcycling Championship. In just 10 weeks, seven races have
been completed this season, six of them in Europe, and one,
though only for the MotoGP riders, in the United States. After
Dani Pedrosa's second position in the Chinese Grand Prix,
where the Repsol rider had an exciting duel with Italian rider
Valentino Rossi, the turn has come for a classic race on the
World Championship calendar: the French Grand Prix on the
Le Mans Circuit.
Along with the classification leader, Repsol Honda Team teammate
Nicky Haydenwill also face an important challenge this coming
weekend. The American's best result to date was a fourth position
in the Spainish Grand Prix. After a complicated start in Qatar
and the fourth place in Jerez, Hayden did not score any points
in Portugal due to a fall, and during the last race in China
he attempted to make up for it with a sixth position which
obviously fell short of his expectations. The American Repsol
Honda Team rider wants to be back on the podium this weekend
in France.
The race on the legendary French track shall be a fresh chance
for Julián Simón to be among the best in the
category. The Repsol rider already demonstrated in China that
hard work can put him among the five fastest, and as soon
as his luck smiles on him again, he is convinced he will give
a good performance during the race. What is more, the French
track brings good memories to the Spamish rider, who last
year managed to finish fifth after taking a place on the first
row during the training sessions. On the other hand, the constant
improvement over the last few weeks of the problems in his
forearms mean that Simón is optimistic, and has had
ongoing treatment with an osteopath to try and solve the issue
once and for all.
For the 125cc riders, the French Grand Prix means another
important challenge, as neither rider has ever raced on the
French track. Rabat -who is completing his second World Championship-
last season did not get past the timed training session, where
he fell and broke his left wrist. For Marc Màrquez
this will be a chance to discover another new circuit, and
to gain further experience. The Repsol rider is very excited
after he managed to score his first points in a World Championship
at the China Grand Prix, and is aware that his main goal this
season will be to learn how to cope with the many situations
he can find himself in.
Quotes
MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa >>
“I’m looking forward to getting to Le Mans. We
will have a lot of work to do and we want to work hard to
prepare as well as possible for the race. This is the fifth
race of the year and it is also the start of the busiest part
of the season with seven grands prix over ten weekends.
The most exciting part of the Le Mans track is after the first
chicane, going downhill and through the long-right hander.
The most complicated section is the final few corners after
the second chicane. The most important factors at Le Mans
are good acceleration and good brakes. You also need to make
sure that you choose exactly the right gearbox ratios. And
you need to ride aggressively. The weather can be a worry
because it often rains. It’s usually cold as well, so
we normally use intermediate tyres. You get a lot of fans
there, the grandstands are full on Sunday and the atmosphere
is always great, it seems like they are really enthusiastic
motorcycling fans.”
Nicky Hayden >>
“We’ll be aiming to step it up at Le Mans. We’ve
not quite been there the last few races and we need to change
that. I like Le Mans but there’s not a whole lot to
be said about the track. I like going over the top of the
hill after the first chicane and dropping down into that right-hander,
then accelerating out of there; that’s probably my favourite
part of the track.
There’s not a lot of flow to the layout. I’d say
the last little bit looks like something they threw together
just to finish the lap, like they were in a hurry to get it
done. You need the bike to be stable on the brakes, for sure,
you definitely need something for some hard braking. You also
need good acceleration from the engine, something that’s
smooth and controllable off the bottom. The weather can change
a lot too, so your tyre picks on Thursday are pretty crucial.
The track can generate some pretty high temperatures in the
tyres and you need good traction accelerating out of all the
hairpins because the asphalt at Le Mans can be quite slippery.”
250cc
Julián Simón >>
“The Le Mans Grand Prix is here, the fifth race of the
Championship. It's a race which brings me good memories, because
last year we had a good weekend. I ran some very good training
sessions where I classified in second place, and then I struggled
with the leading pack throughout the race. I took a well-deserved
fifth place.
This year we're using a new bike which is more difficut to
set up, but that's what we're going to work hard on during
the first training sessions on Friday. We already have the
experience gained over four races, and that should be enough
to fix a fast setup, because that's the starting point we
usually find the hardest. I like the Le Mans circuit, and
as for the issue with my arms, I've been working out with
an osteopath since Jerez, and I'm improving a lot. So I'm
very motivated, feeling excited and strong. I'm aware that
we have to turn the situation around and try to return from
Le Mans with a good result.”
125cc
Marc Márquez >>
“I've been told that the Le Mans Circuit has some technical
parts, though not too complicated. We also know that the weather
is quite unpredictable there, the sun could be shining one
moment and the next it's pouring rain, something like in Jerez.
It's a circuit I've never been on, and I'm very excited.
The idea this year is to learn and gain as much experience
as possible, and if while I'm at it we get a good result,
then all the better. The result in China was quite good, but
now I have to concentrate on this race and I'm just as excited
as before. If we can improve on the result in China, great;
but if not, it will be important to learn and build experience.”
Esteve Rabat >>
“I'm very much looking forward to it, especially after
the race in China, because aside from the disastrous training
sessions, the race didn't go all that bad. I made a few mistakes,
but still finished in eleventh position. In Le Mans let's
hope KTM can bring us something new, and that I also improve
a bit.
I think we can get a good line, because the circuit isn't
too demanding on the engine, there are many turns, and it
requires more skillful riding than in China, where the straightaways
were very important. If we can manage a good setup for the
chassis, I think we can do well and maybe climb some positions.
I'm really looking forward to it and know it will be tough,
but we'll try and get a good result starting from the first
training session.”
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