MotoGP de France - Le Mans

[flying finn]

MotoGP de France - Le Mans

Friday 18.05
Free Practice #1 > 10.00 - 11.00
Free Practice #2 > 13.50 - 14.50

Saturday 19.05
Free Practice #3 > 10.00 - 11.00
Qualifying > 13.50 - 14.50

Sunday 20.05
Race > 14.00

Moto GP News > http://www.motogp.com/en/motogp/index.htm

Championship Standings

1. STONER Casey AUS > 86
2. ROSSI Valentino ITA > 71
3. PEDROSA Dani SPA > 49
4. MELANDRI Marco ITA > 41
5. HOPKINS John USA > 39
6. ELIAS Toni SPA > 35
7. EDWARDS Colin USA > 31
8. CAPIROSSI Loris ITA > 30
9. HAYDEN Nicky USA > 30
10. VERMEULEN Chris AUS > 30
11. BARROS Alex BRA > 27
12. CHECA Carlos SPA > 20
13. DE PUNIET Randy FRA > 19
14. HOFMANN Alex GER > 19
15. NAKANO Shinya JPN > 15
16. GUINTOLI Sylvain FRA > 6
17. JACQUE Olivier FRA > 4
18. ROBERTS JR Kenny USA > 4
19. TAMADA Makoto JPN > 4

[Gerben24]

Olivier Jacque is out for this round. The injuries he sustained in China haven't healed properly yet. Fonsi Nieto will take his place. He has done alright so far in the WSBK, although Laconi was the better of the two at Monza.

Le Mans also might see the return of Roberto Locatelli according to his own website. The cast around his left ankle will be removed at the track after which Locatelli will undergo a medical, before he'll get the get go.

[Pro Racer]

i think Stoner, Hopkins, Vermulen closly followed by Rossi, Caperossi and Pedrosa then daylight to Hayden and Edwards and the rest not far behind.

[FPV GTHO]

I'll wait till first practise before making predictions. Ducati are confident because of the straights, Yamaha's confident because of last years race and being back in Europe. Honda have been pretty quiet and Suzuki have been quietly confident they'll bring a surprise.

[Gerben24]

I think this one is very difficult to predict. Hopper and Edwards have both done really well on this track in the past, so they will be in the mix. Ducati will still have an advantage here I think, cause of the 2 long straights. Rossi is always at the front...

At lot will depend on the first chicane action as well...

[gomick]

and what about the tyres? do we expect this to be a bridgestone or michelin track.... could dunlop cause an upset

[Pro Racer]

would be interesting to see but i think even if the Bridgestone and Michelin's were horrible the bikes Dulop are on would still have to hope for a few falls to win IMO, but it would be funny .

[Jeff 8]

Originally Posted by gomick

do we expect this to be a bridgestone or michelin track....

Being France, Michelin would be putting everything into it after such poor showing so far.

I think the tyre rule will throw some odd results again. Especially if there is a big temp change form saturday to sunday.

Jeff

[BootsOntheSide]

The choice of Nieto over Laconi (MotoGP experience, French) shows who the number 1 at PSG is. Kinda nice to see the Nieto name back in the top class.

Ducati might be the strongest, but it's genuinely tough to predict.

[ozrevhead]

Im really nervous over this one.....I think if Casey and Ducati can win this race than they can perform on any track

I expect Rossi to comeback - Its just whether or not Casey can stand up to it which I am hopeful of.

TBH What Casey has achieved has been beyond my wildest dreams and anything else is a bonus

[Pro Racer]

i think he tried to hard last year and it lead to his downfall but this year he has matured had a great pre-season and is riding great, IMO also i think that the Ducati front and Bridgestones suit his style better.

[Pro Racer]

Fp1 resaults

http://www.motogp.com/en/motogp/moto...mpionship_id=3

[jhansen]

FP2 times:

1 Marco Melandri 1:35.319
2 Dani Pedrosa 1:35.467
3 Carlos Checa 1:35.498
4 Colin Edwards 1:35.626
5 John Hopkins 1:35.746
6 Casey Stoner 1:35.759
7 Toni Elias 1:35.818
8 Alex Barros 1:36.044
9 Loris Capirossi 1:36.139
10 Randy De Puniet 1:36.352
11 Valentino Rossi 1:36.391
12 Chris Vermeulen 1:36.491
13 Sylvain Guintoli 1:36.705
14 Kenny Roberts 1:36.770
15 Makoto Tamada 1:36.795
16 Shinya Nakano 1:36.855
17 Nicky Hayden 1:37.205
18 Alex Hofmann 1:37.751
19 Fonsi Nieto 1:38.827

A Honda 1, 2, 3? Hayden and Rossi were not able to improve on their FP1 time. Hayden in particular binned it early and ran off later in the session.

Some on-site observations:

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2007/May/070518tw.htm

[Dani Filth]

a bit slow for Nieto .. Laconi should've been the choice imho ..

[Pro Racer]

i've seen this before from the Duc about fith in practice/quali and then brain them in the race, but i feel it will be a little closer than in China and Turkey.

[Hazza]

Nieto?

You know you're slow when you are behind Hoffman.

[gomick]

morning practice times (#3) - top 16 in the same second bracket, awesome

Hopkins 1m35.12
Elias 1m35.18
Stoner 1m35.24
Tamada 1m35.27
Edwards 1m35.27
De Puniet 1m35.35
Hayden 1m35.39
Rossi 1m35.39
Checa 1m35.44
Melandri 1m35.55
Guintoli 1m35.57
Pedrosa 1m35.59
Vermeulen 1m35.62
Barros 1m35.65
Capirossi 1m35.75
Nakano 1m35.99

[ozrevhead]

Casey has been up there all week - mby the Dukes arent so slow in the corners after all

the plot thickens

[gomick]

how about that bradley smith qualifying 2nd in the 125's - gotta be happy with that chunder

lets hope he get of the line a bit better than in china - all to do with experience, which he is getting better at each time he jumps on the repsol honda...

[ozrevhead]

very!!

[gomick]

shinya nakano should've stayed at kawasaki - the konica honda is nowhere

[ozrevhead]

either rossi is asleep or he's waiting for the last min to post a time

[gomick]

randy's just gone quickest - 35 mins ta go.... fonsi 2 secs slower

[ozrevhead]

im looking at no of laps everyone has done and Casey has only done 5 - hope the Duke is behaving itself

[gomick]

dunlops are 7th & 11th... interesting!