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.
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 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