Repsol Honda RC212V rider Dani Pedrosa returns to Europe for the French GP holding a seven point lead at the top of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship. The Spaniard has made an impressive start to this season with a win, two second-pace finishes and a third from the first four races. Team-mate Nicky Hayden meanwhile comes to Le Mans gunning for his first podium of the year. The American has already come close, taking a hard-fought fourth place at Jerez and sliding off at Estoril while in the running for a top-three result.
Le Mans’ Bugatti circuit is one of the oldest tracks on the MotoGP calendar. Constructed in 1965, it is much shorter than the mostly public roads course used for the famous Le Mans 24 car race. The Bugatti circuit has hosted motorcycle GPs on and off since 1969. The layout is characterised by low-speed corners and straights, making acceleration and braking performance primordial. This year’s French Grand Prix commences a gruelling midseason run of seven races over ten weekends which will test riders, bikes and teams to the limit. Le Mans is followed in quick-fire order by the Italian, Catalan, British, Dutch, German and American world rounds.
Following post-French GP tests at Le Mans, Hayden will return to the USA to ride a demo lap aboard a 2007 Repsol Honda RC212V just before the start of the 92nd Indy 500 car race. This prime-time spot, in front of a huge trackside and TV audience, will promote the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix on September 14.
Dani Pedrosa
World Championship leader with 81 points“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
8th in World Championship with 29 points“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.”
Le Mans - Circuit DataCircuit Lenght: 4,185 metres
Width: 13m
Pole position: Left
Right corners: 9
Left corners: 4
Longest straight: 450m
Fastest Lap: 1'33"616 C. Edwards (Yamaha) 2007
Circuit best Lap: 1'35"087 V.Rossi (Yamaha) 2006
World Championship Classification Rider:
1. Dani PEDROSA - SPA - Repsol Honda Team 81 2. Jorge LORENZO - SPA - Fiat Yamaha Team 74
3. Valentino ROSSI - ITA - Fiat Yamaha Team 72
4. Casey STONER - AUS - Ducati Marlboro Team 56
5. Loris CAPIROSSI - ITA - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 33
6. James TOSELAND - GBR - Tech 3 Yamaha 33
7. Colin EDWARDS - USA - Tech 3 Yamaha 31
8. Nicky HAYDEN - USA - Repsol Honda Team 29 9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO - ITA - JiR Team Scot MotoGP 26
10. John HOPKINS - USA - Kawasaki Racing Team 26
11. Marco MELANDRI - ITA - Ducati Marlboro Team 23
12. Shinya NAKANO - JPN - San Carlo Honda Gresini 22
13. Toni ELIAS - SPA - Alice Team 15
14. Chris VERMEULEN - AUS - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 14
15. Randy DE PUNIET - FRA - LCR Honda MotoGP 11
16. Alex DE ANGELIS - RSM - San Carlo Honda Gresini 7
17. Sylvain GUINTOLI - FRA - Alice Team 4
18. Anthony WEST - AUS - Kawasaki Racing Team 3
Constructor Points:1. YAMAHA 90
2. HONDA 81 3. DUCATI 56
4. SUZUKI 34
5. KAWASAKI 26
Team Points:1. FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 146
2. REPSOL HONDA TEAM 110 3. DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 79
4. TECH 3 YAMAHA 64
5. RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP 47
6. KAWASAKI RACING TEAM 29
7. SAN CARLO HONDA GRESI 29
8. JIR TEAM SCOT MOTOGP 26
9. ALICE TEAM 19
10. LCR HONDA MOTOGP 11
