The Repsol Honda Team travels to the famous Le Mans race track this week in preparation for round three of the MotoGP World Championship. Hopes are high for the factory Honda squad at the Grand Prix of France, with both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso eyeing a podium finish at the technical 4.185km (2.6-mile) circuit.
For Pedrosa this will be a landmark weekend as it marks his 150th Grand Prix race in all classes of the Road Racing World Championship. It’s a remarkable total he will reach at the age of just 24 years and 236 days on Sunday, and the Spaniard will be the youngest rider ever to pass this threshold. The current record holder is Marco Melandri, whose 150th GP was at Misano in 2007, aged 25 years and 26 days. All of Pedrosa’s Grand Prix starts - 46 in the 125 class, 32 in 250s and soon to be 72 in MotoGP - have been made on Honda race bikes.
Pedrosa comes into this important GP off the back of a heartening ride at the Grand Prix of Spain just over two weeks ago where he led for almost the entire race and came within metres of taking the win. Le Mans is a track that Pedrosa likes and his record at the Bugatti circuit is a strong one. He has been on pole position in the MotoGP class three times out of four since his debut in 2006, and in the smaller GP classes won the race three years on the trot from 2003 to 2005, first in the 125cc class and then in 250s. A MotoGP win has so far eluded him at Le Mans, and Pedrosa will be determined to put that right this weekend.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda garage, Dovizioso is also targeting a second podium of 2010 to follow his third place at the opening round in Qatar. The Italian also has strong form in previous seasons at Le Mans having won the 125cc race in 2004 and notched up five consecutive podium finishes between 2003 and 2007 in 125s and 250s. Dovizioso is confident the progress he made during the test following the last race at Jerez will allow him to fight at the front of the race onboard his factory Honda RC212V this weekend.
Last year’s race at Le Mans was an eventful one. The race was declared wet and the MotoGP riders duly started on wet Bridgestone tyres before picking their moment to swap to slick tyres as the track slowly dried. It was the Repsol Honda pair of Pedrosa and Dovizioso who provided the excitement in final few laps, with Pedrosa setting a series of fastest laps and chasing down his hard-charging team-mate to steal the final podium spot on the last lap. That race was also a reminder that the weather in Le Mans often play its part over the race weekend, and the Repsol Honda Team will be prepared for a variety of conditions as practice begins on Friday afternoon.
DANI PEDROSA – World Championship position 3rd 29 points
”After the Jerez race I’m looking forward to arriving in Le Mans and continuing with our recent progress. We were able to complete a good weekend in Spain, being fast from the first practice and building up to the best set-up possible for the race. This is the pattern we have to achieve again in France. Le Mans is one of those circuits where you need to be prepared for any track conditions because the weather can play a big part during the weekend. In fact, last year’s wet-dry race was a good example of this. So it will be very important to make maximum use of the practice sessions and be ready to set the bike up for a wide range of weather conditions and temperatures. Le Mans will also be my 150th Grand Prix in the World Championship, and I would really like to mark this with another great result there.”
ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – World Championship position 4th 26 points
“I’m looking forward to racing at Le Mans this weekend. It’s a circuit that I like and where I always tend to get good results so I’m confident for this race. After the improvements we found during the Monday test in Jerez, I think we will be very competitive. In fact we will use the new chassis we tested in Jerez and I’m very positive about our potential. Le Mans is a slow racetrack. It looks easy on paper but in reality it’s quite a tricky place to interpret, and riding at maximum pace is a good challenge. There are many variations of camber and elevation changes that make things difficult - and this is what I like about it. Last year I fought for the podium and I lost out on the very last lap so my motivation is high for this race. I’m confident we can fight with the front riders this year.”
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