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French Grand Prix, Honda preview

In MotoGP

13 maggio 2009

The motorsport Mecca of Le Mans welcomes the 2009 MotoGP World Championship this weekend, with Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso in optimistic mood after showing promising pace at Jerez two weeks ago.

Round four of this year’s 17 race series, the French Grand Prix has been kind to Honda over the years, the manufacturer winning 11 of the last 15 premier-class races staged at Le Mans and Circuit Paul Ricard. Going to Le Mans, Pedrosa is Honda’s top-placed MotoGP rider, the Spaniard currently third equal on points, while Scot Honda’s Hiroshi Aoyama heads the 250 series following his stunning Jerez victory.

Significant news in the lead up to this race is that the MotoGP pre-race practice schedule has been expanded, with the three 45-minute sessions increased to one-hour sessions. Practice time had been reduced for 2009 from the previous total of four hours, but riders and teams had voiced concerns that there was too little pre-race set-up time.

Pedrosa has every reason to feel confident on his return to Le Mans, where he has enjoyed much previous success. A hat-trick 125 and 250 winner in 2003, 2004 and 2005, Pedrosa scored a podium finish first time out on a MotoGP bike at Le Mans in 2006 and last year started the race from pole position. He arrives in France off the back of a brilliant ride to second place in the Spanish GP, despite having missed vital preseason testing at the track due to injury.

Pedrosa and his crew continue to refine the set-up of his Repsol Honda RC212V which has taken him to podium results at the last two GPs. This weekend they will aim for stability, traction and acceleration, the most crucial aspects of machine performance at a circuit characterised by heavy braking, rapid changes of direction and bursts of low-gear acceleration.

Team-mate and fellow 23-year-old Dovizioso is anxious to resume battle aboard his Repsol Honda RC212V after a Spanish GP that promised so much. The Italian had an excellent pace going at Jerez but ran off the track during a charge which should have put him in with a chance of scoring a top-three finish. Dovizioso will continue his set-by-step improvement aboard his factory RC212V at Le Mans, where he always goes well – the 125 winner in 2004, he scored a hat-trick of 250 podiums at the track before taking eighth in last year’s MotoGP race. Like Pedrosa, Dovi has used Honda machinery throughout his World Championship career.

Also brimming with confidence this weekend is local hero Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), who scored his best MotoGP result in more than a year at Jerez. The Frenchman’s fourth-place finish was the result of a superbly consistent pace which suggests that LCR Honda have found an excellent direction of development with their RC212V/Bridgestone package.

Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) have both been working on improving rear-end traction at recent races. And while their results haven’t been up to expectations, both men are certain they are moving in the right direction and are looking forward to Le Mans which will allow them to usefully evaluate their latest set-up improvements.

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