Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) took a record breaking victory at the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France, which sees the reigning World Champion equal Casey Stoner’s 38 premier class wins, while also surpassing Mike Hailwood’s win record. Alma Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci was a superb second to take his first podium of the season, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) returning to rostrum in third place.The French fairytale was unfortunately not to be for Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), the home hero crashed out at Turn 8, on lap eight, after re-passing Marquez for second. Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was another rider to crash, falling out of contention on lap one at la Chapelle after making a good start. Then, Championship contender Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) made a rare error at the same corner four laps later. The number 04 had just passed teammate Jorge Lorenzo – who once again got a magnificent start – for the lead, with the Ducati man leaving with no points for the second consecutive race. All three were ok, but it proved to be another pivotal race in the Championship. Meanwhile, Lorenzo held firm at the front, Marquez was close for company with Petrucci, Rossi and Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) chasing them both. On lap ten though, the number 93 made his move on Lorenzo, before Petrucci followed the Honda rider through a lap later. Rossi and Miller soon carved their way past the five-time World Champion, with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) waiting in the wings. The gap between Marquez, Petrucci, Rossi and Miller stayed consistent, with all four exchanging quickest laps. That was until the six-time World Champion pulled the pin on lap 16, setting the fastest lap of the race to bridge to gap to a second over the chasing GP18. From there, Marquez was able to stretch the gap tenth by tenth, with Petrucci also keeping the nine-time World Champion at bay. Pedrosa was later able to pass Lorenzo for fifth, with the Ducati rider having to settle for sixth. Further down the order, after failing to get the start he was looking for, last year’s winner Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) made his way back up to seventh after being outside the top ten for the first half of the race. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) had a great ride, holding onto eighth until the last lap to earn his best result of the season. Passing him on the last lap was walking wounded Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), who had a magnificent ride battling to P8 from 13th on the grid. It was a quiet but important race for Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) after three DNF’s this season, the Spaniard battled with Viñales and Espargaro throughout the race, eventually rounding out the top ten. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) picked up another solid result in P11, with Hafizh Syahrin (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) eventually getting the better of Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) to finish as top rookie. Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) and Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) were both early fallers, with Scott Redding (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) also crashing out – riders ok.

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 8th (42’15.568)

“I was actually a bit disappointed with the race because I knew all weekend I had the pace, but I finished where I finished because of the consequences of what happened yesterday. The team did a great job, they put a bike on the grid for me that was capable of challenging at the front of the race, but I just wasn’t able to today. I wasn’t willing to push in the first laps, it was as simple as that. Over the first 10 or 15 laps I didn’t want to make any mistakes, I just needed to stay on the bike otherwise I could have done myself some serious injury. After that, I was able to push a little bit and pick some riders off, but I have to give credit to the team. It’s the first race we’ve finished for a while, it’s not a great result, but I’m happy to have finished and done a good enough job.”

Race results:

Source: motogp.com, lcr.mc

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