Round 4 of the MotoGP season takes place at Le Mans Circuit Bugatti for the 2023 French Grand Prix. Built in 1965 the venue has hosted Grand Prix since the late sixties. Le Mans is a close quarters action filled track. It has multiple first gear corners that place the emphasis on late braking and hard acceleration on the long straights. The course is a 2.6 mile circuit featuring 14 turns. The longest straight is 2100+ feet long which allows riders to reach maximum speeds as they head into braking zones.
The race runs 27 laps and current championship leader Francesco Bagnaia is the current lap record holder setting a 1:31.778. This weekend will mark the 1000th Grand Prix in MotoGP. This weekend Marc Marquez (Team HRC) will return to the grid with a healthy teammate Joan Mir (Team HRC). This is his first appearance since the Portugal Grand Prix incident that led to injury.
Whispers in the Paddock
The riders are set to have an FIM safety meeting Friday morning to discuss certain incidents thus far in the season. There is a sentiment in the paddock that certain rules are not being applied equally amongst all riders. One such rider is Fabio Quartararo. He stated to motorsport.com, “We know that we are not agreeing with the decisions they are making all the time and that we always say it doesn’t seem equal between all the riders. That’s why we will try to have maybe some other guys that cannot get more disturbed by the popularity of the riders to be more equal.”
Championship leading rider Francesco Bagnaia also interviewed with motorsport.com and stated, “I really hope to have the possibility to understand their point of view and to share our point of view,” Bagnaia said when asked by Motorsport.com what he hoped to gain from this meeting. “This one could be already a good step, because in this moment, personally I’m not understanding their point of view.”
We will report on the outcome of the meeting if there are any conversations of note. In the mean time you can check your local streaming providers for access to race weekend content. Race coverage is available via NBC but it will not be streamed live. Sunday’s race is set to beginning at 8:00am EST on Sunday.
From FIM: This article was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
The MotoGP™ Court of Appeal have issued its final decision on the Application of the Sanction in Marc Marquez’s (Repsol Honda Team) case. Here is what the FIM have published:
Following the provisional decision of the MotoGP™ Court of Appeal pronounced on 12 April 2023 granting the stay of execution of the Application of the Sanction imposed on Marc Marquez, the Court still had to decide on the merits of the case considering inter alia the brief of appeal submitted by Marc Marquez and Team HRC – Repsol Honda Team on 17 April 2023.
The Court decided to annul the Application of the Sanction imposed on Marc Marquez, which was issued by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel in connection with the Original Sanction.
The Court considered that the Double Long Lap Penalty imposed on Marc Marquez by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel during the MotoGP™ Race of Portugal held on 26 March 2023 has been served by the non-participation of the Rider in the 2023 MotoGP™ Race of Argentina.
Marc Marquez is hence allowed to compete in the next race in which he will be able to participate, without any further sanction.
Read the full decision of the MotoGP™ Court of Appeal in the attached file.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team WorldSBK) is to step in for Enea Bastianini (Lenovo Ducati Team) whom broke his shoulder blade in a on track incident in the opening sprint race of the MotoGP season. The injury has left him unable to compete since that time. Bastianini attempted to ride at the Spanish GP in Jerez, but the pain appeared to be too much for the rider. Bastianini’s Team Manager Davide Tardozzi, “He said it is too painful after a couple of laps, it is too hard to ride. We don’t want to take too many risks, so he decided to stop.” He had logged 5 laps before calling it quits and ruled himself out for the Spanish GP.
Bastianini has now reportedly withdrawn from the French GP at Le Mans and WorldSBK rider Danilo Petrucci has been called up to fill in due to Bastianini’s extended absence. Petrucci is a previous MotoGP rider having been on the MotoGP grid from 2012-2021. Most recently he has been competing in WorldSBK which has not yet translated to the success he saw last year in the USA MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. However, when opportunity calls you show up. At Le Mans, Petrucci will step in for Bastianini alongside World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia. The WorldSBK rider previously won at the French GP with Ducati in 2020. The upcoming French GP will be his first showing in MotoGP since his appearance at the 2022 Thai GP. We will keep you updated on the developments surrounding this story.
For more information on injury updates visit. MotoGP.com
After an intense exchange in the sprint race. Front runners Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), Brad Binder (KTM) and Jack Miller (KTM) set the pace for the weekend. Bagnaia had an uphill battle during the race, only reaching top spot contention in the final 3 laps of the race. Marco Bezzecchi who temporarily held the championship point lead after the last race had a weekend to forget with multiple on track incidents. The latest being a crash in turn 17 which results in Bezzecchi leaving Spain with just a P9 finish in the sprint race.
The Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) was involved in an on track collision with RNF Racing’s Miguel Oliveira. Oliveira suffered a shoulder injury in the incident and the race was red flagged. The FIM stewards penalized Quartararo with a long lap penalty for his involvement in the crash. Unfortunately, after running fastest in morning warm up he was not able to translate that pace to the race in what has been an otherwise disappointing season thus far. He finished the race P10 after rejoining the race after the red flag.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) was not able to capitalize on his pole position start. He settled for a P5 finished. Jorge Martin seemed to find a pocket in the field and cruised to a P4 finish late for the Prima Pramac Racing side.
With Bagnaia point finishes in the Spring race and grand prix he retakes the lead in the riders championship race. Marco Bezzecchi remains second and the KTM Racing riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller move up to 3rd and 4th respectively.
Top 10 finishers
- Francesco Bagnaia (Ita) Ducati 39mins 29.085secs
- Brad Binder (SA) KTM +0.221secs
- Jack Miller (Aus) KTM +1.119
- Jorge Martin (Spa) Ducati +1.942
- Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Aprilia +4.760
- Luca Marini (Ita) Ducati +6.329,
- Daniel Pedrosa (Spa) KTM +6.371
- Alex Marquez (Spa) Ducati +14.952
- Takaaki Nakagami (Jpn) Honda +15.692
- Fabio Quartararo (Fra) Yamaha +15.846
Current Championship Standings
The MotoGP world was turned upside down again as KTM Racing rider Brad Binder secured his second Sprint Race win of the season. KTM Jack Miller was also in the mix in an intense battle at the front of the field. The two exchanged positions throughout the race, but a late lunge down in Turn 6 secured the win for Binder. It was an overall successful day for KTM Racing wth Jack Miller rounding out the podium in third. Francesco Bagnaia stole second place away on the final lap while the KTMs were involved in their scrap for first. Bagnaia was able to double draft the two to make up one place.
Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) came together and set off a chain reaction that took out championship leader Marco Bezzecchi and Augusto Fernandez. Morbidelli was abel to continue but finished in P16. Bezzecchi was able to salvage a P9 finish and Augusto Fernandez finished P17 for GasGas Factory racing.
Jack Miller settles for P3 after late move by teammate. Photo by Luckasz Swiderek/ photoPSP.comAlex Espargaro was involved in a self induced crash that saw his race finished. Fabio Quartarao started the race by gaining 8 positions after starting from 16th. He later fell to 12th in yet another disappointing finish for the Frenchman. He qualified in his lowest position ever for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Full Spanish Grand Prix Sprint Race Results are Below
For more action check out MotoGP Video Pass.
FP2 is complete at the Spanish GP and Aprilia Racing is on top. Both riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales set fastest laps throughout the session with the margin between their best laps being only 0.002s. Jack Miller who was 3rd fastest was just over a tenth of a second behind Viñales.
The session halted briefly due to Marc Marquez’s injury substitute Iker Lecuona crashing in turn 12; causing a red flag. The session restarted but riders did not start to break FP1 times until the final 15 minutes. Francesco Bagnaia seemingly is well off pace today given he ran 8th fastest. There did not seem to be an obvious reason why he was so behind on pace. Similarly Marco Bezzecchi could only amount a response to finish 7th fastest raising questions as to whether there are new factors impacting the pace of these riders. Fabio Quartararo had an FP2 to forget finishing 15th fastest. With each grand prix round Quartararo’s likelihood of making another title run seems to dwindle as his has not consistently been able to remain in the top 5 for lap times in any of the previous practices or races for the 2023 campaign. While we wait for qualifying be sure to check out MotoGP.com for exclusive content and interviews from this weekend.
Free Practice 2 Results
Honda Racing Corporation Press Release: This article was not authored by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
A still recovering Marc Marquez will be replaced by Honda WorldSBK’s Iker Lecuona, the young Valencia rider making his MotoGP return alongside Joan Mir inside the Repsol Honda Team box for his first home race as a Honda rider.
Returning to one of the most familiar tracks on the MotoGP World Championship calendar, the paddock arrives at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. First hosting a Grand Prix in 1987, the 4.42-kilometer-long circuit has seen Honda take 22 premier class Grands Prix victories, the most recent coming in 2019 when Marc Marquez won the race. The entirety of HRC arrives buoyed by Alex Rins’ victory in Austin, Texas and all are eager to continue the form and make further improvements.
Marc Marquez will continue recovering from the broken first metacarpal of the right hand sustained at the Portuguese Grand Prix. The French GP, May 12 – 14, has been set as the target for the #93 to return to competition. For the Spanish Grand Prix, he will be replaced by Iker Lecuona.
Focusing on the positives of Austin and the improvements made, Joan Mir lands back on home turf with a clear path to follow. The Jerez circuit has seen the #36 produce a string of his trademark consistent results in the premier class, sixth place in 2022 his worst finish at the venue since arriving in MotoGP in 2019. Having made a step with the ergonomics of the Repsol Honda Team RC213V in Austin, confirming this improved feeling will be the first objective of the weekend for the double World Champion.
2022 and 2023 have seen Iker Lecuona competing with Team HRC in WorldSBK, the 23-year-old from Valencia consistently fighting for the top five in his rookie season. This included a podium finish at the Dutch round in 2022, just his second weekend of competition on the Honda CBR1000RR-R. His 2023 WorldSBK season started with a string of top-ten finished in Phillip Island with more speed shown in Mandalika and Assen. Lecuona is no stranger to the premier class, having competed full time from 2020 to the end of 2021. He achieved a best result of sixth place at the Austrian Grand Prix in 2021 during this time.
Stefan Bradl will contest the Spanish Grand Prix aboard a fifth Honda RC213V with the Honda HRC Test Team.
IKER Lecuona foffered his thoughts:
“First I want to wish Marc all the best in his recovery, he is the reference in MotoGP and I think not only the fans, but also the riders miss him a lot. For me, of course it’s an incredible opportunity to return to MotoGP and ride with the team of my dreams. Doing it in front of the Spanish crowd is extra special. But we have to be realistic, it will be a very tough and demanding weekend. I have spent this year and last year fully focused on WorldSBK with Team HRC and now I need to get used to everything that is different in MotoGP as well as learn a brand-new bike – the Honda RC213V. No matter what, I will do my best and let’s see what the outcome is.”
Honda Racing Corporation Press Release: This article was not authored by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
Tuesday, April 25, Marc Marquez underwent a medical check at the Ruber Internacional Hospital after having been successfully operated on four weeks ago for an intra-articular fracture of the first metacarpal on the right hand.
The clinical and radiological progression was deemed satisfactory, however, due to the nature of the fracture and the time elapsed, the medical team led by Dr. Roger de Oña together with Marquez, have decided to continue with his recovery and preparation during the coming weeks and focus his possible return on the French GP, May 12 – 14.
Iker Lecuona from Team HRC in WorldSBK will replace Marc Marquez for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix.
Marquez had the following comments, “Yesterday we did another CT scan and it has been confirmed that, despite the fact that the injury is progressing favourably, the bone has not yet finished healing and racing in Jerez was risky. Together with the medical team, we decided not to take any risks, to wait two more weeks and return in Le Mans. I am very sorry to miss the Spanish Grand Prix because it is always special, because of the atmosphere, racing at home and above all, seeing and enjoying the fans. I will continue with the rehabilitation and work to be back as soon as possible. Thank you for your messages of support!”
The MotoGP table was turned on its head after today’s Grand Prix of the Americas at Circuit of the Americas. Francesco Bagnaia crashed from the lead on Lap 8 of the grand prix. This saw his then championship lead erased as Alex Rins maintained his track position and took the victory for LCR Honda Castrol. In surprising fashion, Fabio Quartararo was able to amount a P3 finish after the Frenchman has struggled to find a podium in 2023 prior to this weekend. Luca Marini who was fastest in FP1 claimed P2 in the Grand Prix bouncing back from his P7 finish in the sprint.
The race lost three riders on the first lap. Aleix Espargaro, Alex Marquez and Jorge Martin all crash out on cold tires and incidental contact. Six others crashed later in the race. Those riders are listed below.
6 Stefan Bradl; Repsol Honda Team Honda
30 Takaaki Nakagami; LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda
36 Joan Mir; Repsol Honda Team Honda
1 Francesco Bagnaia ; Ducati Lenovo Team
43 Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
25 Raul Fernandez SPA CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia
With the crashes and Marco Bezzecchi finishing the race in the points. Bezzecchi overtook Bagnaia in the championship standings. Alex Rins moves up to 3rd place over 4th place Maverick Viñales. Stefan Brandl, stand in for Marc Marquez, was not able to secure points for Repsol Honda. You can check out the race results here.
Championship Standings
You can watch the exclusive interviews at MotoGP.
Reigning world champion and championship leader Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia shattered the MotoGP track record at the Circuit of the Americas. Pecco set a 2m1.892s lap time; first sub 2m:02 lap time at COTA in MotoGP history. He secured pole on his final lap. Alex Rins on the LCR Honda finished second fatsest setting a 2m02.052 and Luca Marini who was fastest in FP1 ran 3rd third fastest with a 2m02.181.
Second place championship standing sitter Marco Bezzecchi was able to fight back to P5 after an earlier crash in FP2. Jack Miller who looked to be on pace for a successful qualifying crashed at turn 11 resulting in his 5th crash of the weekend. The KTM rider will start 10th. Marc Marquez’s Repsol Honda substitute Stefan Bradl will start 21st. Pol Espargaro’s who will be out with a spinal injury indefinitely was replaced by Jonas Folger who finished 22nd.
Qualifying 2 Results