Will wet weather help or hinder Marquez and Honda..?

2021 MotoGP Round Five Le Mans


It’s off to the Le Mans circuit in France for the fifth chapter of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship. Best known for hosting the 24-hour race, the French track has been a happy hunting ground for the Repsol Honda Team in recent years. In 2019, Marc Marquez claimed Honda’s 300th premier class win as he took his first back-to-back wins of the season. Then in 2020, rookie Alex Marquez put on a masterful wet-weather performance to earn his debut MotoGP podium in Repsol Honda Team colours.

MotoGP Rnd LeMans Start Marquez Miller Dovi Lorenzo
Marc Marquez & Jack Miller battled at Le Mans in 2019 but it was Marquez that took the win ahead of Dovizioso and Petrucci with Miller finishing fourth

Marc Marquez’s return to Jerez was positive as he reduced the distance to the race winner after a complicated weekend. Continuing this trend of closing the gap to the front is again Marquez’s primary objective for the weekend as his recovery and return to competition moves forward. In previous visits to Le Mans Marquez has achieved four podium finishes, including three wins.

With inclement weather forecast for much of the weekend it will be a fine line between risk and reward that must be trod by all competitors, but when returning from injury those risks are somewhat magnified.  With the difficulty that RC213V riders have been experiencing with the new Michelin asymettic front slicks, perhaps a wet race might actually help the Honda riders this weekend…

Marc Marquez

It has been a good week between races, I have been able to rest and continue my training and recovery. The goal for this weekend is to have less complications and continue working to improve. Step by step we are getting stronger and our goal is to continue the progress we have been making. The weather in Le Mans can always make things a little bit tricky but we will handle whatever happens.”

MotoGP Rnd LeMans Grid Marquez
Marc Marquez on the grid at Le Mans in 2019

MotoGP Championship Standings

Pos Rider Bike Points
1 Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 66
2 Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 64
3 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 50
4 Joan MIR Suzuki 49
5 Johann ZARCO Ducati 48
6 Jack MILLER Ducati 39
7 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 35
8 Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 33
9 Alex RINS Suzuki 23
10 Brad BINDER KTM 21
11 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 19
12 Enea BASTIANINI Ducati 18
13 Jorge MARTIN Ducati 17
14 Pol ESPARGARO Honda 17
15 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 16
16 Stefan BRADL Honda 11
17 Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 9
18 Alex MARQUEZ Honda 8
19 Danilo PETRUCCI KTM 5
20 Luca MARINI Ducati 4
21 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 4
22 Lorenzo SAVADORI Aprilia 2
23 Iker LECUONA KTM 2
24 Tito RABAT Ducati 0

Source: MCNews.com.au

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