Pol Espargaro at Grand Prix de France

Repsol Honda Team salvage points from trying French GP

France, May 2022: The French GP was ultimately a weekend of ups and downs as Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro worked to deliver the maximum potential result in Le Mans.

A morning spit of rain would ultimately amount to nothing as the Le Mans circuit hosted one of the hottest French Grands Prix in recent years. Over 100,000 passionate French fans made for an electric atmosphere as the MotoGP World Championship lined up for round seven of the 2022 season.

Both Repsol Honda Team riders started the race well when the lights went out at 14:00 Local Time, Marc Marquez opting for a wider line through the fast Turn One. There was no waiting around as the eight-time World Champion immediately began to work his way forward, sliding past Nakagami and Quartararo at the end of the first lap. Steady pace followed as Marquez tried to close the distance to the leading group on his RC213V, holding firm in seventh place for much of the race. Crashes ahead would see Marquez cross the line sixth place, collecting ten points.

With a total of 54 points, Marc Marquez maintains his position inside the top-ten in the overall standings.

Going for the tighter line through the opening corner, Pol Espargaro maintained his position from the grid and slotted in just behind his teammate. Narrowly avoiding contact between Zarco and Binder ahead of him, Espargaro lost touch with the leading group and spent the majority of the race battling with the factory KTM machines. A late fall from Oliveira forced the #44 to again take avoiding action, dropping his Honda RC213V from outside the top ten.

11th place in the French Grand Prix has Pol Espargaro 12th overall in the championship, 14 points behind Marquez.

There is now a week off before the Repsol Honda Team face yet another back-to-back challenge with Mugello and Barcelona, two iconic tracks within less than ten days of each other. Both riders are hoping for better fortunes there.

 Marc Marquez (6th)

“I said yesterday that with a good race our position would be fifth, sixth or seventh and we finished sixth – even if our real position was ninth because there were some falls. It was a solid race at our pace, but it was a really long race and I wasn’t able to push towards the end. All we can do is keep on working, that’s the best way to improve for the future. My target is not just to be finishing as top Honda, it’s to be finishing on the podium but we are not there yet. There’s still more to understand in the next races to close the gap to the front.”

Pol Espargaro (11th)

“It was a really, really hard race. I think this weekend has confirmed where our problems are and what we need to work on. Our rhythm was not amazing, it was OK, but we weren’t able to overtake as we were losing some time under acceleration and then when I tried to overtake on the brakes, the others were too far. It’s a difficult moment but we keep on trying. Myself as the rider and Honda, we are all working a lot to resolve this situation. In the pre-season we were able to solve these problems so we know it can be improved on.”

 

French Grand Prix Race Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 BASTIANINI ENEA 23 ITA 25 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 41’34.613
2 MILLER JACK 43 AUS 20 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 2.718
3 ESPARGARO ALEIX 41 SPA 16 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 4.182
4 QUARTARARO FABIO 20 FRA 13 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 4.288
5 ZARCO JOHANN 5 FRA 11 Pramac Racing Ducati 11.139
6 MARQUEZ MARC 93 SPA 10 Repsol Honda Team Honda 15.155
7 NAKAGAMI TAKAAKI 30 JPN 9 LCR Honda Honda 16.68
8 BINDER BRAD 33 RSA 8 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 18.459
9 MARINI LUCA 10 ITA 7 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 20.541
10 VINALES MAVERICK 12 SPA 6 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 21.486
11 ESPARGARO POL 44 SPA 5 Repsol Honda Team Honda 22.707
12 BEZZECCHI MARCO 73 ITA 4 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 23.408
13 DI GIANNANTONIO FABIO 49 ITA 3 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 26.432
14 MARQUEZ ALEX 73 SPA 2 LCR Honda Honda 28.71
15 MORBIDELLI FRANCO 21 ITA 1 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 29.433
16 DOVIZIOSO ANDREA 4 ITA 0 WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 38.149
17 BINDER DARRYN 40 RSA 0 WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 59.748
18 OLIVEIRA MIGUEL 88 POR 0 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM DNF
19 BAGNAIA FRANCESCO 62 ITA 0 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati DNF
20 MARTIN JORGE 89 SPA 0 Pramac Racing Ducati DNF
21 MIR JOAN 36 SPA 0 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki DNF
22 FERNANDEZ RAUL 25 SPA 0 Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing KTM DNF
23 RINS ALEX 42 SPA 0 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki DNF
24 GARDNER REMY 87 AUS 0 Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing KTM DNF

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

GOPU RAMANNA Previous post Visually challenged condoled the death of Gopu Ramanna who set up a school for blind in Karimnagar
JSW Paints-Halo-Aquaglo-campaign poster Next post JSW Paints launches its innovative product that focuses on consumers’ health & well-being at home