Le Mans Around The Corner

Le Mans is a name that will be familiar with motorsports fans far and wide, and even those who dip their toe in the world of car or bike racing will have heard of this legendary location. It is a place steeped in history amongst many disciplines, but for Moto GP it is the home of the French Grand Prix. They don't race around the full endurance circuit, that's reserved for the big races, but they do take to certain elements of that legendary track using the Grand Prix circuit. This year is the 25th consecutive year for Moto GP racing at Le Mans, so what can we expect from the race weekend?

Well it's pretty tight in the championship after Jerez; Marc's early crash in the Grand Prix saw brother Alex Marquez take his first ever Moto GP Grand Prix victory and the lead in the championship. Albeit a single-point advantage is not going to fill him with confidence, but he's had podiums at Le Mans before and you are only as good as your last race. He's been unbelievably consistent this year, only finishing off the podium once, and he's on a Ducati, so what more can I say? Marc will be looking to take back his advantage and put Jerez behind him though, he's won every sprint this year and it's likely he will repeat that success this weekend. Let's not forget Pecco either, the former world champion is only 20 points behind Alex in the standings and equals him on podiums this year. He's not looked super comfortable on that Ducati, but he's been right there securing some well needed points before it all just clicks, and we see him do what he does best.

It's not just the Spaniards and Italians enjoying a high in Moto GP at the moment though, Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo are going to be on top form as they return to their home Grand Prix. Zarco is leading the charge for Honda at the moment with some top 5 performances which were very unexpected in this current age of Ducati. Quartararo, of course, secured pole position in Jerez and brought it home in the Grand Prix for a podium. The Frenchman did drop it during the sprint, but bounced back on Sunday well. He's also due an engine upgrade that the factory Yamaha team tested on the Monday in Jerez.

What about KTM then? Well they've had an unusual season so far and nobody really knows why. The manufacturer reported financial trouble at the start of the season, and there's been new components flying around their bikes at each Grand Prix so far. Vinales put on quite the show in Qatar, only to be penalised for a tyre-pressure issue and tumble down the order. But he was right there in fourth at Jerez at the next race, so who's to say. There's been plenty of rumours about the factory KTM star Pedro Acosta in the last few weeks, with many wondering if he might make the switch to Ducati earlier than his KTM contract would allow. The Spaniard currently sits in tenth place in the standings, some 107 points behind Alex, and has recently had to have arm-pump surgery following some pretty hard riding in Jerez.

Plenty to keep an eye on this weekend, that's for sure.