MotoGP LIVE France Le Mans Race: Miller doubles the lead, Zarco magnificent, Quartararo leads the championship

ARTICLE UPDATED UNTIL THE END OF THE RACE

The fifth round of the MotoGP season will start on a Le Mans track which promises an indecisive French Grand Prix due to the atmospheric conditions. Two French people are in the running for a new day of national glory already experienced this year in Qatar. But this edition at Bugatti is a big leap into the unknown given the number of falls already recorded since the start of this weekend...

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) equaled Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi in the number of poles established in the premier category, namely 13. The Niçois had previously dominated qualifying twice on this Sarthe track: in 2015 as part of Moto3 and last season.

This is the second consecutive year that a Frenchman has started from pole at Le Mans and the fourth time that such a scenario has occurred, knowing that Johann zarco (Pramac Racing) and Christian Sarron had respectively excelled in this exercise in 2018 and 1987. 'El Diablo' would now dream of becoming the second tricolor to win his national event after Pierre Monneret. It was in Reims in 1954.

Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), winner of the 2017 edition, will start from second place and this is his best result in nine races. We also have to go back to the 2017 Italian GP to see the two representatives of the official Yamaha team at the forefront.

Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team), author of the third fastest time in this Q2, was already on the front row for the final two meetings. No Australian has had two victories in the premier category since these performances. Casey Stoner in Jerez and Estoril in 2012.

Johann zarco (Pramac Racing), fifth and second Ducati rider on the grid, has always been on one of the first two rows this year. To date, four French people have triumphed in the premier category. Could it be the fifth?

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team), which has distinguished itself three times in Sarthe in MotoGP, will occupy sixth position on the grid, as had already been the case in Portugal. That being said, these are his worst qualifications on this track at this level of competition.

Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), who reached Q2 for the very first time, set the 11th fastest time. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) will be 14th and 15th respectively on the grid. In the last two years, they had already failed to reach the Top 12 in qualifying.

What will this race have in store for us? French Grand Prix ? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

MotoGP™ Le Mans	2020	2021
FP1	1'43.804 Bradley Smith (See here)	1'38.007 Jack Miller (See here)
FP2	1'34.133 Jack Miller (See here)	1'31.747 Johann Zarco (See here)
FP3	1'32.319 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'40.736 Marc Marquez (See here)
FP4	1'32.528 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'32.857 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Q1	1'31.952 Danilo Petrucci (See here)	1'42.550 Lorenzo Savadori (See here)
Q2	1'31.315 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'32.600 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Warm Up	1'32.869 Franco Morbidelli (See here)	1'44.515 Danilo Petrucci (See here)
Course	Petrucci, Alex Marquez, Pol Espargaro (See here)	Jack Miller Johann Zarco Fabio Quartararo
All time lap record	1'31.185 Johann Zarco (2018)

The race will consist of 27 laps and the sky seems to want to be kind. Here are the first live images…

The race is declared dry. 18° in the air, 32° on the dry track, for the moment…

The sky is getting darker, which is never good news at Le Mans... At the start, Miller takes the lead with Vinales and Quartararo in his wake. Quarterly follows as Nakagami. zarco is 11th.

Espargaro Pol gets a fright, clashes with Morbidely nevertheless. The Italian Brazilian falls and seems to suffer from his knee. It was at turn 11. Kidneys is already fifth, Mir ninth. Vinales took the lead after two laps. bagnaia is 19th.

Rain is predicted by the commissioners. Flag to flag is authorized, i.e. changing machines. Quartararo takes the lead. Miller resists, the duel is virile between the two. Vinales loses confidence. Rins and Marc Marquez are catching up with the leading men. The downpour is now heavier. Everything will change.

Miller misses, it's raining hard. Everyone comes in and changes motorbikes. Mir falls, Oliveira cuts Rossi on the pitlane, Rins falls at turn 4. It's a disaster for Suzuki. Marc Marquez is in the lead. 22 laps of a new race is launched. Bagnaia moved up to fifth.

Both Ducati riders receive a double long lap penalty. Marc Marquez leads by just over a second over Quartararo, Miller is almost 4s behind with a penalty to serve, Nakagami leads the rest of the peloton by more than 17s. Zarco is fifth at 22s. Miller went second at a breakneck pace but had to take his two penalties. Marc Marquez falls. Quartararo is in the lead.

Miller takes his first penalty and remains second, 1s6 behind Quartararo. Zarco is the fastest driver, but he is fourth at 21s. Miller takes his second penalty. He is 2s behind Quartararo. The Ducati official is the strong man. The penalty is due to excessive speed when entering the pits.

Fabio Quartararo receives a penalty for his change of bike. It is true that he almost took Viñales' motorcycle by stopping at the wrong place... He completed his punishment.

Savadori is betrayed by his Aprilia. Marc Marquez has joined the race and is the fastest on the track. Quartararo is 5s behind Miller, he is 12s ahead of Nakagami pursued by Zarco. Oliveira crashed at turn 3, he was ninth.

Alex Marquez is fifth, Petrucci seventh. Rins falls for the second time and the third consecutive time in three races. The track is drying out, he has a soft rear tire, Quartararo is on medium.

Zarco goes third with 12 laps to go. The sky is clearing... Miller is in front, he drops two tenths to Quartararo who is 4s behind, Zarco is 15s behind. Nakagami and Alex Marquez complete the top 5. Marc Marquez moved up to 12th.

Aleix Espargaro is betrayed by his Aprilia. Johann Zarco leads the charge with lap times which give him hope of a comeback on the two leading men. It's 11s. It runs two seconds per lap faster. There are 10 rounds left...

Marc Marquez falls again. This time for the count at turn 6.

Zarco continues his offensive. He is 3s6 behind Quartararo and 8s7 behind Miller. The track is mostly dry. There are 7 rounds left.

The Pramac Ducati rider passes his compatriot's Yamaha 6 laps from the end. He still has 7s to go for the victory over Miller. Bagnaia is sixth.

The last 5 laps are breathtaking. Zarco is 6s3 behind Miller. Quartararo is 3s behind him. Bagnaia is aiming for fourth place which would limit the damage to the championship.

Zarco does what he can but Miller handles his business. The Frenchman will perhaps miss two laps to make it happen at home... He is 4s7 with 3 laps to go.

Under the checkered flag, Miller won his second consecutive victory after Spain, Zarco finished in his wake after an incredible comeback, Quartararo was third and regained the lead of the championship in Bagnaia, however, a solid fourth who only lost the overall lead for a point. Petrucci closes the top 5 with the KTM Tech3. Vinales is only tenth, behind Lecuona who beats him on the line. Alex Marquez is seventh and first Honda ahead of Nakagami and Pol Espargaro. Rossi is eleventh

In the championship, Bagnaia follows Quartararo by one point, Zarco is 12 points and Miller is 16…

Standings for the French MotoGP Grand Prix at Le Mans:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com