Latest News & Insights

Monster Energy Grand Prix of France
ROUND FOUR 2012 MotoGP™ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY MAY 20
CRUTCHLOW PUSHES FOR LEGENDARY LE MANS PODIUM

Cal Crutchlow pushes for his first MotoGP™ podium of the season in the Monster Energy Grand Prix of France at the legendary Le Mans circuit on Sunday. The Isle of Man based Midlander has been pushing so hard for that podium finish against the factory bikes in the opening three rounds of the MotoGP World Championship and fancies his chances in the 28 lap race round the 2.600 mile Bugatti circuit at Le Mans.

It’s the home race for his French-based Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team and the former World Supersport Champion lies fifth in just his third season in the MotoGP World Championship. His team-mate Bradley Smith, who took his very first 125 cc podium in 2007 at Le Mans, starts just his fourth MotoGP race encouraged by his tenth place in the previous round in Jerez.

Also encouraged by his Jerez performance is 31 year old Ulsterman Michael Laverty. He scored his first ever world championship points with 13th place at Jerez riding the Paul Bird Motorsport CRT machine. He has finished all three of the opening rounds and improvements to the electronics should see him very capable of more points on Sunday.

Twenty year old Gloucestershire Marc VDS rider Scott Redding has made a superb start to his Moto2™ World Championship campaign. Two second places in the opening three rounds sees him trail Spaniard Esteve Rabat in the championship by a single point and the battle will continue in the 26 lap race on Sunday with Redding so close to that first vital Moto2 victory.

It’s been tougher going for Wiltshire teenager Danny Kent and Spanish-based Yorkshire man Kyle Smith. It’s a big weekend for Kent’s Tech 3 team and the perfect venue for him to start his points scoring campaign while Smith makes his debut at the Bugatti circuit. Londoner Gino Rea makes a welcome return to the Moto2 fray on an FTR machine funded by him and fans (see separate story).

It’s better news in the highly competitive Moto3™ class where both Danny Webb and John McPhee scored points in Jerez. Kent-based Webb’s 13th position finish placed him 14th in the world championship after scoring at every round. Scottish teenager McPhee grabbed his first points of the season with an impressive 11th.

Cal Crutchlow
“Le Mans is a big weekend for me and the team and we face it with plenty of confidence. Jerez had been a difficult weekend in many respects so I was very satisfied with fifth because probably last year I would not have finished the race in the same situation and that’s for sure an improvement. The next day we tested at Jerez and I was happy to have got through so much work and do almost 70 laps because my back was still quite sore from the two big crashes I had on Saturday. It was a positive day and after a tough weekend with the crashes to finish fifth in the race and second in the test shows again we are doing a good job.”

REA RETURNS AFTER PLENTY OF HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS

Londoner Gino Rea makes a welcome return to the Moto2 fray on the FTR Honda after a lot of help from fans, friends and family. They have all clubbed together to finance Rea to race at Le Mans and at least the Hertz British Grand Prix at Silverstone in September after his intended full season ride fell through at the start of the season.

Last year Rea finished a brilliant third in the Moto2 race at the rain sodden Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang riding for the Gresini team.

Gino Rea
“I would not have thought that there were that many people wanting me to get back out on track. I would like to send a huge thank you to everyone. It’s all been a great motivation to me and now I’m itching to get back out there.”

MARQUEZ MARCHES INTO LE MANS

Twenty year old Marc Marquez marches into Le Mans for the fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship this weekend with a three point lead in the championship. The Monster Energy Grand Prix of France around the 2.600 mile Bugatti circuit at Le Mans is only his fourth MotoGP race but the Moto2 World Champion has finished on the podium in the first three including victory at Austin, Texas.

It promises to be another bruising 28 lap encounter on Sunday with his Spanish rivals, Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa and World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa won the previous round in Jerez with Marquez second after a clash at the infamous last corner with Lorenzo who won the Le Mans race last year. The trio are separated by just four points.

Last year nine times World Champion Valentino Rossi brought Ducati a much needed second place in the difficult conditions at Le Mans and the Italian returns on the factory Yamaha hoping for a repeat although it will be tough against the leading trio. British Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow has made a superb start to the season with two fifths and a fourth place. It’s a big home race for his French-based team with his team-mate Bradley Smith looking to push closer to the leaders after finishing tenth in Jerez.

Spaniard Alvaro Bautista has made a steady start to the season on the Go&Fun Gresini Honda but trails Crutchlow by seven points in their battle for fifth while the Ducati duo of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden are only two and four points behind respectively. Spaniard Aleix Espargaro has made a great start and is comfortably the top CRT bike on the Power Electronics Aspar machine. He has been top CRT rider in those opening three rounds and leads factory bike riders Andrea Iannone, Stefan Bradl, Smith and Ben Spies who missed the last race through injury. It’s a big race for former Moto2 World Champion Bradl who has crashed the LCR Honda in two of the three races.

Old rivals since their schoolboy days Esteve Rabat and Scott Redding are separated by a single point going into the Moto2 battle. Spaniard Rabat has been the surprise of the season taking his first win and pole position at the previous round at Jerez on the Tuenti HP 40 Pons Kalex. Redding, riding the Marc VDS Kalex, has grabbed two second places to trail by that single point. Pre-season favourite and Rabat’s team-mate Pol Espargaro won the opening round in Qatar but a crash in Texas followed by a third in Jerez puts him ten points down on Redding. Former 125 cc World Champion Tom Luthi won the race last year and made a welcome return with a brave 11th at Jerez following his massive pre-season crash.

It’s just as close in the Moto3 World Championship with Jerez winner Maverick Vinales, who won his first ever grand prix at Le Mans two years ago, leading Luis Salom by four points. Spanish teenager Alex Rins crashed in Jerez but holds onto third place by a single point from German Jonas Folger. The Moto3 riders will be hoping for a full 24 laps on Sunday with the two previous rounds being halted by a red flag.

LE MANS FACTS AND FIGURES
Circuit Length: 4.185 kms
Width: 13 m
Pole Position: Left
Longest Straight: 674m
Left Corners: Four
Right Corners: Nine

Pole Position Record
Dani Pedrosa/Honda
1.32.647 (2008)

Lap Record
Dani Pedrosa/Honda
1’33.617 (2011)

TELEVISION TIMES
BBC/BRITISH EUROSPORT
Friday 17 May
0855–0940 MotoGP Free Practice1 BST Connected TV & Online
1210-1450 Free Practice 2 BST Connected TV & Online
Saturday 18 May
0855–0940 MotoGP Free Practice 3 BST Connected TV & Online
1120–1505 Qualifying Red Button and British Eurosport 2
1300-1400 MotoGP Qualifying BBC1 HD
Sunday19 May
0945–1220 Moto3 and Moto2 races Red Button and British Eurosport
1230–1415 MotoGP race BBC2 HD

Monday 29 April 2013
bwin Grand Prix of Spain
ROUND THREE 2013 MotoGP™ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY MAY 5
CRUTCHLOW AND REDDING RACE INTO EUROPE

Cal Crutchlow and Scott Redding spearhead the considerable British charge into Europe at the bwin Grand Prix of Spain at the legendary Jerez circuit in Spain on Sunday. Isle of Man – based Midlander Cal Crutchlow has started his third season in the MotoGP™ World Championship in superb form while 20 year old Gloucestershire rider Scott Redding leads the Moto2™ World Championship after the opening two rounds in Qatar and America.

Crutchlow arrives at the 2.748 mile circuit in Southern Spain fired up to take on the factory bikes. Riding for the Satellite Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team he has grabbed fourth and fifth places already this year, led the final day of pre-season testing at Jerez and finished fourth last year. His new team-mate Bradley Smith won his first grand prix at Jerez in the 2009 125 cc race. The Oxfordshire rider scored his first ever MotoGP points in Texas with a 12th place and will be looking to push on over the weekend at a track he knows well and on which he has tested the MotoGP Yamaha. Ulsterman Michael Laverty also returns to a track on which he has tested the Paul Bird Motorsport CRT machine. He must fancy his chances of his first ever MotoGP points after impressive performances in the opening two races in his debut season.

Redding has a four point lead in the Moto2 Championship after second and fifth places on the Marc VDS Kalex machine. The sparks will fly in the 26 lap race on Sunday with three riders sharing second place in the championship including Texas winner Nico Terol. Last year’s Jerez winner Pol Espargaro who crashed in Texas will also be a massive threat. Wiltshire teenager Danny Kent and Spanish-based Yorkshire man Kyle Smith chase their first points of the season at a circuit they both know well.

After a couple of miserable seasons the experienced Kent-based Danny Webb is at last finding a change of fortune in the Moto3™ class. Riding the Ambrogio Racing Suter Honda he’s picked up points at the opening two rounds. Scottish teenager John McPhee could do with a change of fortune. His Caretta Technology FTR Honda was wrecked when he was taken out in the Qatar race which made for a tough time in Texas. He returns to Jerez in better shape.

Cal Crutchlow

“I was very pleased with the result in Texas and we did a better job than any of us expected. To finish fourth and be behind Marquez, Pedrosa and Lorenzo is a great achievement for all and gives us confidence to take into the next few races. I’m giving it my all and I’ll never give up and I think in Texas again we showed how competitive the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 package is. Now we go to Jerez and I was quickest at the winter test a few weeks ago, so it’s going to be another big battle that I’m excited about.”

REDDING RE-WRITES THE HISTORY BOOKS

The Moto2 World Championship leader Scott Redding is the first British rider since Tom Herron in 1976 to lead the intermediate class in the MotoGP World Championship. It was 37 years ago that Herron led the 250 cc World Championship by a single point from Walter Villa after winning at the 1976 TT race in the Isle of Man.

The last British rider to lead a World Championship was Bradley Smith in 2009. After his victory at the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello he led the 125 cc World Championship from Julian Simon by 3.5 points.

EUROPEAN KICK OFF WITH MIGHTY JEREZ CONFRONTATION

The first MotoGP European grand prix of the season promises to provide a mighty confrontation at the bwin Grand Prix of Spain at Jerez on Sunday. After two superb opening races in Qatar and Texas the action switches to Europe around the 2.748 mile circuit in Southern Spain and all the components are in place for a continuation of the battle.

World Champion Jorge Lorenzo and the youngest ever Premier class winner 20 year old Marc Marquez share the lead in the championship after a victory apiece at the opening two races. Factory Yamaha mounted Lorenzo has already two MotoGP victories in Jerez but Marquez has never won a grand prix there. Their respective team-mates Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi have both tasted MotoGP success at Jerez and will be desperate to claw back the points advantage. Pedrosa riding the Repsol Honda was successful five years ago while Rossi has secured six wins on both Honda and Yamaha machinery.

Diving right into the middle of those four factory riders will be Cal Crutchlow who has looked more than capable of mixing it with them in the opening two rounds. Riding the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha he has grabbed fifth and fourth places and also led the final day of testing this year at the track where he was fourth last year. Spaniard Alvaro Bautista injured his hand at that final test but has made a steady start on the Go and Fun Gresini Honda while the new Ducati pairing of Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden have made a solid start. It’s a marathon rather than a sprint for the Italian factory and so Dovizioso’s two seventh places represent the start of what could prove a long journey. They will be joined by test rider Michele Pirro in the 27 lap race.

Former Moto2 World Champion Stefan Bradl was mighty relieved to finish fifth in America after crashing out on the LCR Honda in Qatar and will seek to climb from his tenth place just one point in front of the impressive Aleix Espargaro. The Spaniard was the top CRT bike last year and has put the Power Electronics Aspar ART top CRT at the opening two rounds, giving the likes of MotoGP newcomers Bradley Smith and Andrea Iannone a tough time. Iannone’s Pramac Ducati team-mate Ben Spies will miss the race still suffering from a shoulder injury sustained last year despite finishing 13th in his native Texas.

Twenty year old Scott Redding leads the Moto2 World Championship after second and fifth places on the Marc VDS Kalex. Three riders shares second place just four points adrift. Former 125 cc World Champion Nico Terol won in Texas from Tito Rabat and Mika Kallio and they will be looking over their shoulders for Dominique Aegerter who’s made a brilliant start with two fourth place and Qatar winner Pol Espargaro. The Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex rider crashed out in Texas but won his first Moto2 race at Jerez in difficult conditions last year.

Just one point separates the three leading riders in the Moto3 Championship. Spanish teenager Alex Rins, after his first grand prix victory in Texas and Qatar winner Spaniard Luis Salom share the lead. Maverick Vinales’s two second places put him one point adrift and the fight between these three and many others is certain to continue in the 23 lap race on Sunday.

JEREZ FACTS AND FIGURES
Circuit Length: 4.423 km
Width: 11 m
Pole Position: Left
Longest Straight: 607m
Left Corners: Five
Right Corners: Eight

Pole Position Record
Jorge Lorenzo/Yamaha
1.38.189/162.164 km/h (2008)
Lap Record
Dani Pedrosa/Honda
1’39.731/159.7 Km/h (2010)

TELEVISION TIMES
BBC/BRITISH EUROSPORT
Friday 3 May
12.05 – 15:00 Free Practice British Eurosport 2
Saturday 4 May
11.30 – 15:00 Live Qualifying Red Button and British Eurosport 2
Sunday 5 May
09.45 – 12.30 Live Moto3 and Moto2 Races Red Button and British Eurosport 2
12.30 – 14:00 Live MotoGP Race BBC2