Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of MotoGP rights holder Dorna Sports SL, has signed a new contract with the promoter of the French Grand Prix, Claude Michy, for the next five years. While this year sees the circuit of Le Mans hosting a MotoGP round for the tenth successive year since the introduction of the four-stroke formula [...]
The MotoGP World Championship moved to the historic French circuit of Le Mans for round three this weekend, but it was the Spanish national anthem that provided the soundtrack to Sunday’s podium ceremonies. The track saw a similar feat in 2003, with victors from Spain in all three categories. The premier class was the headline [...]
The 125cc French Grand Prix kicked off at 11am today, and it was clear that this was not going to be a race fought in a tight pack. Nico Terol took off like a flash from pole position -his first in the class- and went all out to establish a gap between himself and his [...]
Moto2 hit Le Mans on Sunday and, as in all of the class’ races to date, crashes were the order of the day. 41 riders into 1 corner was never going to be an easy sum to solve, and the opening chicane took down a number of competitors. Eleven riders hit the deck over the [...]
Qualifying practice for the Grand Prix de France took place this afternoon with Nico Terol and Pol Espargaró continuing their battle for supremacy from the morning’s final free practice, Bradley Smith and Marc Márquez also joining the fun in a four-way scrap for pole position. The intense competition saw the current pole record of 1’43.918, [...]
Unusually warm conditions led to a typically hot qualifying session at Le Mans this afternoon as Valentino Rossi shaved almost a second off his pole record from 2008 to hold off a strong challenge from three rivals for top spot on the grid. Spanish pair Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, as well as the Australian [...]
Mapfre Aspar riders Julian Simón and Mike di Meglio continued their adaptation to the Suter chassis in the more competitive environment of a timed qualifying session today as the grid shootout for the Grand Prix de France took place at Le Mans. A general lack of grip and front end chatter were the main obstacles [...]
The Moto2 teams and riders enjoyed the kind of weather they’d never expected to see at Le Mans as warm sunshine welcomed them to France for the third round of the season – betraying the traditional conditions at this race. Local favourite Jules Cluzel took advantage to set the fastest time on the opening day [...]
The pleasant surprise of some warm summer sunshine has welcomed the teams and riders to Le Mans for the fourth round of the 125cc World Championship, with the riders able to make use of ideal conditions in their first hour of track time this afternoon. The pace was as hot as the temperatures, with lap [...]
One of the most historic races on the MotoGP calendar, the Grand Prix de France, got underway this afternoon with the first and only practice session of the opening day. It was the riders’ first opportunity to try their bikes out since a one-day test following the last race at Jerez and verify if the [...]