Stoner leads French Honda 1-2

From motogp.com

Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner secured victory for the first time in his career at the Le Mans circuit in Sunday's MotoGP World Championship Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. It was a close battle until the very end between two Italians for second place but it was the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso who clinched the 20 points, ahead of Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team), who achieved his first rostrum riding the Desmosedici.

Stoner took his 25th premier class career win after a dominant ride to pull away at the front and win by a margin of over 14 seconds. With his second win of the season, the Australian has now jumped up to second place in the standings, 12 points behind Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing).

"The whole weekend has gone so well for us, arriving here from the Portugal test with the bike almost the same and we have improved small things here and there and only needed to adjust the set up for this circuit," Stoner said. "We went into the race confident. At the beginning of the race [Dani] Pedrosa was very fast and he was difficult to pass, as he was being cautious. When I overtook him I thought I might be able to take some advantage but he was able to match my times and follow me for some laps, so I continued to push more than I prefer too and eventually I put a gap between us. From this point, the race came to me and I was able to focus on my consistency and win."

It was a record-breaking attendance for the French GP with 88,400 fans attending the Le Mans circuit on Sunday. The rain managed to stay away and an eventful race was enjoyed by the large and enthusiastic crowd. There was action throughout the field but at the end all eyes were on the dice between Dovizioso and Rossi. As in the previous race in Portugal, the Honda rider managed to deny the advances of the nine-time World Champion and record his best finish of this year's campaign so far, while Rossi scored his best result of the season four rounds in.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), who had made one his trademark rocket starts, led Stoner for the first lap until his team-mate came through on the next lap to take control of the race. The Spaniard stayed with the race leader for the first half of the 28-lap race, until he fell into the clutches of Marco Simoncelli. The Italian passed the Repsol Honda rider on lap 17 but then a controversial incident occurred between the two when Pedrosa attempted to reclaim his second position and the two touched, sending Pedrosa crashing out.

It was later confirmed that Pedrosa had broken his right collarbone, while Race Direction declared during the course of the race that Simoncelli had made an illegal manoeuvre, and served him with a ride through penalty. The 24-year-old eventually finished in fifth position and lost his opportunity of scoring his first ever podium in MotoGP.

Lorenzo, making his 150th Grand Prix start and becoming the youngest rider ever to do so, had a bad start to his preparations on Sunday after a crash in warm up which wrecked his bike and left the Spaniard with an injured finger. After barging through on Dovizioso early on in the race for a top four place, the 2010 MotoGP World Champion slipped down the order after being re-passed by the Repsol Honda rider and by his fierce rivals, Simoncelli and Rossi, but eventually placed fourth.

"I'm really happy with the second position today," Dovizioso said. "It's so important for the championship and it arrives after a start of the season where we didn't get the results we expected. We did a very good job from the beginning of the weekend and I knew I could fight for the podium, but I didn't expect second place. I had a great battle with Rossi and to beat him always has a special taste. It's good fun to get the podium after a hard fight.

"I was losing a lot in two areas but I was strong in braking, so I made a good strategy and once I overtook him, I pushed 100 percent not to have him too close, especially in turns 10 and 11, where he was faster. We have to keep on working to reduce the gap to stay with the front riders from the beginning."

Rossi was delighted to claim his first podium for Ducati.

"We're very pleased with this podium because we're on the right path and especially because I had fun today," he said. "I rode the Desmosedici well, I was fast in the technical parts of the track, I felt good from start to finish and I had good lap times. This morning we made a final change to the setting and it helped cut another couple of tenths.

"I knew I could beat Lorenzo, so that was my goal. I also passed Dovizioso at one point, but I got a little confused and made a move on the penultimate lap instead of the last one. I lost my concentration momentarily, but in short, he got me again. Anyway, it's fine like this; I'm happy for myself and for my team as this result boosts our morale. We still have to keep working and improving though, because there's more to be done. I also have to improve and keep adapting my style to the Ducati, because I'm still not riding it as I should, but in the meanwhile, we'll enjoy today's nice race and podium."

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) equalled his best result of 2011 with sixth place; the American lost out to Simoncelli after the Italian got the better of him despite his ride through penalty. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) was seventh, ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) who had a lonely race in eighth.

Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) won the race-long battle to finish in ninth. The Spaniard had been involved in a very exciting tussle with Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) who finished 10th, Toni Elías (LCR Honda), 11th and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) 12th. After a difficult start to the season upon his return to MotoGP, Elías was showing signs of the ability which took him to the 2010 Moto2 World Championship and was up to 11th place in a five-rider battle in the early part of the race, but had a massive moment and was lucky to keep hold of his Honda as he dropped to the back of the group. The 28-year-old did manage to pick his way through a number of the riders after a difficult four rounds of the season.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who had qualified an impressive sixth on his first visit to the Le Mans circuit, suffered a lowside when in ninth place on lap five and had to return his machine back to the pits for his first non-finish in his rookie campaign. It was not a good day for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 in its home race in France after Colin Edwards also crashed midway through the race but managed to get back out to pick up three points in 13th place.

It was not a happy day for the French fans who had hoped to see Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) pick up his best result of the season. The French rider crashed into the gravel on lap two and walked back to the pits dejectedly. Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing) suffered a similar fate as he crashed out towards the end of the race.

In his 50th Grand Prix start, Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) celebrated his first victory in the Moto2 category in his rookie season at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. The Spaniard grabbed victory after a fierce battle throughout the race, having started from sixth on the grid. Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) held off Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) for second place after a titanic tussle on the final lap.

Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) claimed his first victory in the 125cc class in just his fourth GP by beating Nicolas Terol (Bankia Aspar) on the final lap at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in a thrilling race-long battle. Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) was third.

MotoGP Race Results
1. Casey STONER (AUS) Repsol Honda 44:03.955
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda +14.214
3. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Ducati +14.564
4. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Factory Racing Yamaha +21.075
5. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda +31.245
6. Ben SPIES (USA) Factory Racing Yamaha +31.609
7. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati +35.566
8. Hiroshi AOYAMA (JPN) San Carlo Gresini Honda +51.502
9. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati +1:03.731
10. Karel ABRAHAM (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati +1:03.885
11. Toni ELIAS (SPA) LCR MotoGP Honda +1:04.068
12. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki +1:04.192
13. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha +2 Laps
Not Classified
Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati +7 Laps
Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda +11 Laps
Cal CRUTCHLOW (GBR) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha +22 Laps
Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) Pramac Racing Ducati +27 Laps

MotoGP Standings
1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 78
2. Casey STONER (Honda) 66
3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 61
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 50
5. Valentino ROSSI (Ducati) 47
6. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 39
7. Hiroshi AOYAMA (Honda) 36
8. Marco SIMONCELLI (Honda) 22
9. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 21
10. Hector BARBERA (Ducati) 21
11. Cal CRUTCHLOW (Yamaha) 21
12. Ben SPIES (Yamaha) 20
13. Karel ABRAHAM (Ducati) 18
14. Toni ELIAS (Honda) 17
15. Loris CAPIROSSI (Ducati) 9
16. Alvaro BAUTISTA (Suzuki) 7
17. Randy DE PUNIET (Ducati) 6
18. John HOPKINS (Suzuki) 6