HONDA MEN AHEAD AS MotoGP MOVES TO LEGENDARY LE MANS

2013-05-15 11:47
Honda stars Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V)
and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) go into
this weekend’s French Grand Prix holding first
and second places in the 2013 MotoGP World
Championship after dominating the second and third rounds of the series.

Marquez won last month’s inaugural Grand Prix of
the Americas in Texas, which Pedrosa finished in
second place; then Pedrosa won in Spain two weeks
ago, ahead of Marquez. It has been a superb start
to 2013 but the riders and the rest of the
factory Honda squad know full well that MotoGP is
all about going the distance – with three rounds done there are still 15 to go.

Marquez has been making the headlines ever since
his MotoGP debut at last month’s season-opening
Qatar GP. He finished on the podium there, took
victory at the next round in Texas and then moved
into the World Championship points lead at his
home GP. So far his has been a phenomenal and
historic apprenticeship – in Texas he became the
youngest rider to score a premier-class pole
position and race win – but the 20-year-old will
start from zero at Le Mans, where he has never ridden a MotoGP bike.

Pedrosa’s brilliantly gauged victory in
challenging conditions at Jerez ignited his push
for the 2013 MotoGP crown. The Spaniard’s 23rd
premier-class victory moved him past reigning
champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and into second
place overall. A productive post-race test at
Jerez brings him to Le Mans in confident mood and
determined to keep the momentum going.

Alvaro Bautista (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini
RC213V) also made significant progress during the
post-Jerez tests. The Spaniard is the only rider
on the MotoGP grid using Showa suspension, so
he’s been working very closely with the Japanese
company to solve a few issues that have been
holding him back. Satisfied with recent progress,
he is optimistic of scoring his first top-five finish of the season at Le Mans.

Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) has had a
disappointing start to his second MotoGP season,
with two crashes at the first three races,
leaving him some way down the points ladder. The
post-Jerez tests therefore couldn’t have come at
a better time for the young German who was able
to spend the day honing his set-up in an effort
to cure a front-end issue that has been causing him concern.

MotoGP rookie Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini
FTR Honda) travels to Le Mans hopeful of scoring
his first MotoGP points. At Jerez two weeks ago
the Australian – who rides a CBR1000RR-powered
CRT bike – was less than a second away from his
first points haul, coming home in 16th spot, just
a few tenths behind veteran Colin Edwards (FTR
Kawasaki). That result boosted his confidence, so
this weekend he will be aiming for the top 15.

This will be another big weekend for Moto2 rider
Esteve Rabat (Tuenti HP 40 Pons Kalex) who leads
a World Championship for the first time after
winning the first Grand Prix of his career at
Jerez. The popular Spaniard, who made his World
Championship debut way back in 2005, comes to Le
Mans just one point ahead of Moto2 rival Scott
Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex) who finished second at Jerez.

Third in the Honda-powered Moto2 series is Pol
Espargaro (Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex) who won the
opening race in Qatar, crashed out of round two
and finished third at Jerez after a thrilling
duel with Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team
Kalex). The Japanese currently sits sixth in the
series behind Grand Prix of the Americas winner
Nicolas Terol (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter) and
Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert Suter).

Honda’s Moto3 riders look forward to the French
GP with some optimism after some promising
results at Jerez. Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing
Suter Honda) moved into sixth place in the points
chase after a stirring ride to fourth place,
while local hero Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold
FTR Honda) goes into his tenth home Grand Prix
aiming for another top-ten finish after promising rides at the last two events.

Le Mans may be best known for its 24 hour
motorsport events – on both two wheels and four –
but it has also been an on-and-off home for the
French Grand Prix since 1969. Honda has scored
many victories in the circuit’s 24 hour
motorcycle race and took its first premier-class
Grand Prix win at the venue in 1983, with Freddie
Spencer aboard the NS500 two-stroke triple. Since
then Eddie Lawson (1989), Mick Doohan (1994 and
1995), Alex Criville (2000), Valentino Rossi
(2002), Sete Gibernau (2003 and 2004), Marco
Melandri (2006) and Casey Stoner (2011) have also
taken Honda machines to premier-class success at the track.

The Le Mans Bugatti circuit, very different from
the much longer 24-hour car track, returned to
the GP calendar in 2000 after an absence of four
years, during which time the French GP was run at
Circuit Paul Ricard in Provence. Since 2000 the
event has built a huge following in bike-mad
France, with tens of thousands of bikers making
the two-hour trip to the Sarthe region from Paris.

Le Mans underwent safety modifications before the
1999 GP, partly as a result of Alberto Puig’s
injurious turn-one crash during practice for the
1995 French GP. The daunting right hander was
tightened and the Musée left-hander was also
modified to lower speeds. Further modifications
have been carried out during subsequent years in
an ongoing program of improvements.

The track’s character is very stop-and-go, with
plenty of slow turns where braking and
acceleration performance are primordial. Riders
and their engineers therefore concentrate on
honing their machines’ stability during braking,
as well as improving rear-end traction for the numerous hairpin exits.

After Le Mans the MotoGP circus heads south to
one of the season’s most popular events, the
Italian Grand Prix at Mugello on June 2.


Honda MotoGP rider quotes

Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez says:
“We go to Le Mans and again we arrive there
starting from zero, as I haven’t done any tests
there. I’ll do my best and I’ll try to make the
most of the situation. I hope it doesn’t rain so
we can prepare the bike on a dry track, this is
very important to find the right set-up. I’m very
happy at the moment but we have to keep our feet
on the ground as the coming circuits are new for
me in MotoGP. A huge part of our success in this
first part of the season is down to the help that
Honda and the team have given me and it has helped my riding a lot.”

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa says:
“After a fantastic weekend in Jerez and a
productive test on the Monday, I’m looking
forward to going to Le Mans. I’ve had good
results there in the past and I enjoy the
circuit, so I’m hoping that the bike works well
there. Practice management in Le Mans can
sometimes be difficult and complicated due to the
weather but I’m finding my comfort again on the
bike and I’m working well with the team. I will
go to France and aim to use all of my experience
and remain focused for the whole weekend.”

Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista says:
“After the weekend at Jerez and the post-race
test I feel very motivated. We have worked very
hard to find more rear grip from the bike after
suffering over the course of the weekend. In the
test we found some solutions that make me
confident that we are on the right path. We
worked closely with HRC and Showa and we improved
our pace from the race so we can go to Le Mans
with renewed enthusiasm. I have not enjoyed
particularly good results at this track in the
past and the weather usually plays a role here so
we have to be prepared for everything. Last year
didn’t go badly for us in the dry but the race
was wet and we struggled because my visor steamed
up. With the progress we are making I am
convinced that we have the potential to be
battling in the top five again and this is our
objective. This is a ‘stop-and-go’ circuit with a
lot of direction changes. It is quite slow and
technical, so it suits a bike that handles well.
There are no long straights and that makes it
physically demanding because you don’t get any chance for a rest!”

LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl says:
“We arrive at Le Mans with two DNFs from three
rounds and some issues with the front-end that we
partially solved in the Jerez test session. Le
Mans is another good circuit which I like and in
my debut year in the premier class I finished
5th. This increases my motivation and my will to
be back at the front with the other guys.
However, we are conscious of our set-up problems
which affect my corner entries and my riding
style. We collected further data in Jerez to
begin the Le Mans weekend with a good base set-up
and, session after session, we will try to adjust the package.”

GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider Bryan Staring says:
“I am still really happy with the result from
Jerez because it has given us a nice boost to try
and do even better in the races coming up. Lap by
lap I am adapting my riding more and more to
MotoGP and I am pushing the bike with more
conviction. I can’t wait to get out on track at
Le Mans, which is a place that fascinates me even
though I have never been before. In fact out of
the next seven tracks I only know one of them so
I have to concentrate hard on learning them and
adapting quickly so that we can start working on
set-up. We have been making progress lately so we
need to keep going like this and I am sure we
will soon achieve our first objective of scoring points. ”


Moto2 rider quotes

Tuenti HP 40 Pons rider Esteve Rabat says:
“I’m not sure what to expect at the moment
because this is the first time I go to a race
leading a World Championship. Le Mans is a very
difficult circuit, with a lot of heavy braking,
and the weather can be difficult. I’d like to say
I am confident, but in Moto2 you always need to keep working.”

Marc VDS Racing Team rider Scott Redding says:
“It’s been a strong start to the season and,
three races in, I’m just one point off the top of
the championship standings. But this early, the
championship standings are just names on a piece
of paper. More important is approaching the Le
Mans weekend as we have the previous three races,
putting in the work during practice and
qualifying to give us the best chance of a good
result on Sunday. It’s worked for us so far, so I
don’t see why it shouldn’t work again this weekend.”

Tuenti HP40 Pons rider Pol Espargaro says:
“I like Le Mans. Last year I was quite fast in
the dry, but so far this year isn’t going so well
for me, so I’m not really sure what to expect. I
will push 100 percent, that is sure, and we will
do our best to put the issues of the last couple of races behind us.”


Honda Moto3 Rider quotes

Ambrogio Racing rider Brad Binder says:
“I think Le Mans will be really good for us
because the Suter Honda handles so, so well. On
top speed the KTMs have the legs on us but
there’s no seriously long straights at Le Mans,
so I think that will even things out and we will
be able to use our advantages in the corners.”

Ongetta-Rivacold rider Alexis Masbou says:
“The GP of France is always an important weekend.
My family and friends come along, sponsors too
and especially all my fans, so it’s a time when
we would love to share good results. Except for
my first French GP in 2003, the added stress of
my home race has never bothered me, but the
national GP is always a stressful weekend because
we want everything to work out perfectly. Le Mans
is a circuit with heavy braking and hard
acceleration, which corresponds well to Moto3,
but the most difficult thing can be the weather!”

Ambrogio Racing rider Danny Webb says:
“I’m looking forward to getting to Le Mans and
getting to work. Jerez wasn’t a good weekend for
me, but that’s behind me now and forgotten about,
so I’m fully fit and ready to go at Le Mans. My
feeling is that the Honda will work well at this
track, so I know that I can have a good result.”

Source: Honda Pro Image

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