The Le Mans weather didn’t disappoint on race day one more time today, as the 27 laps MotoGP round was started in dry conditions, but a rain shower just a few minutes later forced the premier class riders to change their bikes after just five laps.
When the chaos started to clear up, Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci found his place in 12th, gradually gaining confidence while the track was drying out again slowly and passing rider by rider. Around half time through the race he was already in seventh and stepped up the game again to finally finish in a hard fought fifth position.
Likewise, Iker Lecuona needed a few laps to get used to the tricky conditions. After swapping bikes, he came out 17th at the end of the sixth lap following a small crash, but worked his way up incredibly towards the points scoring positions. He went ahead to pass several riders and while doing very fast lap times, he even managed to make up two places more on the last lap to conclude the French GP in ninth.
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Danilo Petrucci
Position: 5th
Championship: 16th
Points: 16
“I’m very, very happy about this race! Finally, it was a really good one. The situation overall was quite critical, I did a small mistake while swapping the bikes as I didn’t put in the first gear, which made me lose some positions. Then it was really easy to make mistakes, when we rejoined the race with wet tyres. Anyway, a top 5 is always very good. We are starting to get more used to the bike. For sure, I wanted to be on the podium, but for this, I have to be perfect and a bit faster. We surely need to improve our Qualifying, but I’m happy.”
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Iker Lecuona
Position: 9th
Championship: 22nd
Points: 8
“Honestly, I’m really happy. I felt very strong all weekend in wet and dry conditions, I felt fast and finished closed to the top 10 in each session. This morning in the Warm Up it was the first time, it was full wet and I felt great. So, I knew for the race, I probably need some laps to catch the front group, but I was sure I could manage this and finish in the top 10. On the first laps, I overtook many riders, then the rain came and I went to the pitlane.”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t bring enough heat into the tyres when I went out again, I made a mistake, went to the gravel, but picked up the bike again fast. I was only P17, but started to focus again and finally, I could overtake one rider in the last corner of the last lap. I’m very happy and want to thank my team, because they helped me a lot. I’m sorry for the mistake, but I learned a lot and finished again in the top 10.”
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Hervé Poncharal
Team Manager
“Fantastic end of the weekend here in Le Mans for the French Grand Prix. It’s been a tough week, but I have to say that hard work always pays off. We were pretty sure that there would be a shower through the race, so we got ready for the flag to flag procedure. We decided for both, Danilo and Iker to go out with the hardest compound available, which was medium front and rear and although it was a bit tough in the first few laps, because it was very wet and very cold, I think it payed off in the end.”
“We were rewarded with our choice and could see that both, Danilo and Iker managed to catch a lot of riders and to finish first two KTMs is a great pride and a great honor. This is a good message we want to pass to all the KTM fans throughout France. Also, there is a little bit of ‘clin d’œil’, as we say in French, which is that today we finished P5 and P9 in Moto3 and P5 and P9 in MotoGP. So, I think this is something funny and interesting and is showing that the both teams work hard and got the same kind of result.”
“I want to congratulate Danilo of course for his never give up attitude. He could understand that there was a chance after he topped the time sheets in this morning Warm Up. There was a chance for him to do something well. We told him on the grid to be ready for the flag to flag and stay focused and this is what he did. I want to congratulate him, another great result here in Le Mans for Danilo.”
“Something, I also would like to explain is; Iker was really good in the first part of the race, had a great flag to flag procedure, exited the pits in a very strong position, I think inside the top 10. What we didn’t notice, as it was not shown on tv, is that Iker crashed on his out lap on rain tyres, but managed to pick up the bike and come back from the bottom of the field to ninth position, passing both, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales in the last lap, which is quite an achievement. Great job, great fighting spirit shown by Iker also.”
“Thank you for the hard work by the technical crew for both sides of the garage, great effort from Danilo and Iker! Let’s have a weekend off and repeat this in Mugello!”
