MotoGP LIVE Le Mans France Course: Danilo Petrucci makes his comeback ahead of rookie Alex Marquez

This autumn edition of the French Grand Prix could be the spring of French motorcycling since Fabio Quartararo could be the very first French rider to win the French Grand Prix in the entire history of the premier category. El Diablo' will start from pole in front of Jack Miller, while his main rival for the title Joan Mir will only be 14th on the grid...

This is the second pole position of fabio quartararo on the Bugatti circuit since his Grand Prix debut, the very first dating back to 2015 when he was in the Moto3 category. This is the third pole position of a French driver at Le Mans in the premier category since pole positions began to be officially listed in 1974, the previous ones having been obtained by Johann zarco (2018) and Christian Sarron (1987).

Yamaha thus obtains his seventh pole since the start of the 2020 season in Spain. This is the first time since 2009 that the tuning fork brand has recorded seven pole positions in the season during the first races. At the time the pilots Yamaha had won seven of the nine opening GPs.

Will this beautiful series lead us to hear the Marseillaise during the podium ceremony? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts observed so far….

MotoGP™ Le Mans	2019	2020
FP1	1'31.986 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'43.804 Bradley Smith (See here)
FP2	1'31.428 Maverick Viñales (See here)	1'34.133 Jack Miller (See here)
FP3	1'42.498 Maverick Viñales (See here)	1'32.319 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
FP4	1'39.777 Marc Márquez (See here)	1'32.528 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Q1	1'37.667 Valentino Rossi (See here)	1'31.952 Danilo Petrucci (See here)
Q2	1'40.952 Marc Márquez (See here)	1'31.315 Fabio Quartararo
Warm up	1'32.483 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'32.869 Franco Morbidelli (See here)
Course	Marquez, Dovizioso, Petrucci (See here)	Petrucci, Alex Marquez, Pol Espargaro
All time lap record	1'31.185 Johann Zarco (2018)

Jack Miller qualified in second place, and together with the Austrian and Emilia-Romagna Grands Prix, this is his best qualifying result this season. The Australian driver has crossed the finish line of the French Grand Prix in fourth place for the last two years.

Danilo Petrucci took third place in qualifying and this is his third consecutive start from the front row at Le Mans. This is his best result on the grid since Italy last year on the Mugello circuit. He also won his first and only victory to date in MotoGP.

At the head of the second line, we find Cal Crutchlow in fourth place. He thus signs his best result in qualifying since the Grand Prix of the Americas last season when he started third on the grid.

Maverick Vinales, the winner of the 2017 MotoGP French Grand Prix, will make his 100th start in the premier class tomorrow. He will start fifth on the grid, it is the fourth time this season that the Catalan has failed to qualify on the front row.

Second last year at the French GP, Andrea Dovizioso qualified in sixth position, which is his best result this season since Austria where he started fourth before winning the race.

Joan mir, currently second in the general classification, will start 14th on the grid. This is his worst qualifying result in dry weather since the Italian Grand Prix in 2019 where he qualified 20th…

Will the race take place on a dry or wet track, the question is asked?

An American Champion at Le Mans..

And during this time...

The rain is here!

Delayed race…

26 laps will be covered instead of the 27 initially planned. 15° to the ground.

The race is announced “Wet Race”

Pit lane open in 1min

The drivers are launched and at the end of the first curve it is Miller who comes out in the lead ahead of Quartararo and Dovizioso.

Rossi crashes in the Dunlop chicane. He trained Mir and Vinales who stayed on their wheels

Three Ducati in the lead: Petrucci, Miller and Dovizioso. Dovi passes Miller while Quartararo battles with Espargaro on the KTM who tries to pass him, in vain. Zarco is 13th

Fabio finally gets passed the next lap by Pol Espargaro, Rins also takes advantage, he passes the KTM rider in stride.

The top 5 is as follows after 3 laps: Petrucci, Dovizioso, Miller, Rins and Pol Espargaro.

Fabio Q. is not very comfortable, he passes Crutchlow, Smith, Alex Marquez, and Oliveira. He is in 10th place. He then passes through Nakagami. 11th place for the world championship leader.

His direct opponents, Vinales is 17th, Mir is 20th. Only Dovi is doing well, the Ducati rider is immediately in 2nd place behind Petrucci. There are 20 rounds left.

The top 10 is as follows with 19 laps to go: Petrucci, Dovi, Miller, Rins, P. Espargaro, Crutchlow, Alex Marquez, Oliveira, Smith and Nakagami.

Rins comes back like a cannonball on the Ducati, Dovi was signposted in this direction..

Smith crashes in turn 9

Behind, Zarco whips and returns to Quartararo's wheel. He is 11th. Zarco passes Fabio without difficulty and now occupies 10th place.

Rins has the Ducati in his sights…

Thrown by Rins on Miller who fails, the Australian closing the door! The only possibility for Miller is to pass Dovi to get rid of the Suzuki driver.

Behind this battle for 16th position, Mir passes Morbidelli. He also gained the upper hand over Vinales and suddenly took 14th place.

Fall of Rabat.

There are 10 laps left, the top 10 is as follows: Petrucci who is holding on in front, Dovi, Miller, Rins, Pol Espargaro, Alex Marquez who surprises everyone, Crutchlow, Oliveira, Nakagami and Zarco. 

Morbidelli Falls.

Dovizioso, 9 laps from the goal, takes control.

Crutchlow Falls.

Petrucci does not let himself be counted out and takes the lead again, which benefits Miller and Rins. Dovi is 4th

Engine failure for Miller…

Rins falls in the Dunlop chicane.

Top5 with 7 laps to go: Petrucci, Dovi, Alex Marquez, Pol Espargaro and Oliveira

Zarco is in 7th place, Quartararo is 8th. Vinales and Mir are 10 and 11th.

Another 4 laps and Dovi comes back on his teammate but he brings with him the Honda rider Alex Marquez and the KTM rider Espargaro.

Alex Marquez passes Dovi and takes 2nd place!

Behind, Pol Espargaro overtakes Dovi who drops to 4th place. The KTM rider potentially climbs onto the 3rd step of the podium.

Victory for Petrucci ahead of Alex Marquez and Pol Espargaro. Zarco finished 5th, Fabio finished the race in 9th place ahead of Vinales 10th and Mir 11th. Dovi is 4th. 

Full results: