After their historic qualifying one-two at the Spanish GP, PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team now move on to the fifth race of the season: The French GP at the legendary Le Mans Circuit. Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo arrive in France after showcasing their ability to compete with the top riders in the premier class, as well as both having enjoyed an excellent day of testing at the Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit as the fastest on track.
Morbidelli is on a run of two consecutive races finishing inside the top ten, for the first time in his MotoGP career. The Italian finished seventh in Spain, where he started from second on the grid and was the Top Independent Team Rider in the race. At the post-GP test, Morbidelli kept up his good form by setting the third fastest time. He has fond memories of the Le Mans Circuit, from his Moto2 victory there in his World Championship-winning 2017 season.
Quartararo is motivated by his outstanding recent form, as well as his setting a circuit record in the post-race test at Jerez. He had been on course for a stellar result in the Spanish GP before his unfortunate retirement and wants a good finish at home to consolidate his top position in the Rookie Of The Year standings. He holds a pole position at Le Mans from 2015 in Moto3 and a victory at the track in the FIM CEV from 2014.
The 27-lap MotoGP French Grand Prix will take place on Sunday, May 19th at 2:00pm local time.
#21 Franco Morbidelli
“We go to Le Mans in very good shape. After a great weekend at Jerez, we were able to continue developing the bike during Monday’s test. We found solutions that could help us at the next few races. Le Mans has quite different characteristics from Jerez, so we will see what we have to work on. After four races, we are probably where we were hoping to be, fighting for the Top Independent Team Rider honour, but we are hungry for more. I think that after the Spanish GP the chances of us getting a podium are becoming more real, but we still have some work ahead of us, so we must keep fighting for it.”
#20 Fabio Quartararo
“We can only draw positive conclusions from the Spanish GP. We took pole position, we were fighting for the podium and on Monday we were the fastest at the test whilst we were trying out many things for the coming races. It’s good to go to Le Mans after a great weekend like we had at Jerez. There will be a lot of fans at the French GP and that will give me extra motivation. It also generates more stress and pressure as it’s my home Grand Prix, but in the end it’s good to have a race where the fans are all behind me. I think the Yamaha YZR-M1 will be well suited to Le Mans, because in recent years Yamaha have done well there. I believe we can get a good result. We will do our best and work in the same way as we did at Jerez. I’m looking forward to the race.”
CIRCUIT INFORMATION:
Le Mans Circuit
Lenght: 4.185m
Right Corners: 9
Left corners: 5
Longest straight: 674m
Width: 13m
Fastest Lap: 1:31.185
(Johann Zarco 2018)
Circuit Record: 1:32.309
(Maverick Viñales 2017)
