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Image Gallery: 2015 Le Mans MotoGP

Action photos from the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France

May 19, 2015

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Photo courtesy of Yamaha

Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo was quick all weekend, qualified on the front row, and led immediately from the start of the race. "Before the race I was a little bit worried about the front tyre on the right side, because it was close in some corners. Sometimes that’s worse in the race on Sunday, because it’s hotter at two o’clock and you have more fuel in the tank and push more on braking."

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Jorge Lorenzo - Photo courtesy of Yamaha

Lorenzo led every lap of the race, pulling away to an almost four-second victory over his teammate Valentino Rossi. "This is the way I prefer to ride, because with nobody in front I can brake perfectly, keep the corner speed and try to increase the gap, so that is what happened. It was difficult because Andrea kept a gap of under a second for a long time, but finally I could stay ahead by 1,2 or 1,4s. Then, when I saw Valentino in second place and in some place close in a little, I had to try to push so much, especially on braking, I could brake later and later and rode a 1’33,004, which gave me the advantage I needed to win this race."

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Valentino Rossi - Photo courtesy of Yamaha

After qualifying on the third row, Movistar Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi worked his way up to second by mid-race but could not match Lorenzo's pace. After five races, Rossi leads the point standings with 102 points; Lorenzo is now in second with 87 points. "I’m happy but we struggled too much to find the right setting in the practice, so we decided to risk and modify the bike before the race. I have to say thank you to my team because they worked very well, my bike today in the race was fantastic and I was able to push, recover and overtake and I was especially able to enjoy riding a lot."

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Andrea Dovizioso - Photo courtesy of Ducati

Andrea Dovizioso returned to the podium with a third-place finish in the race, but dropped to third in the point standings behind Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. "The conditions were good, but after the mid-point of the race I was no longer able to keep the pace of Lorenzo. Unfortunately the tyre had a drop in grip and I was not able to be as efficient as in the first half of the race: I thought my speed was good enough to get me to the flag and allow me to fight for the win, but it was not possible."

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Marc Marquez - Photo courtesy of Honda

Behind the top three riders, Marc Marquez (93) and Andrea Iannone (29) battled hard over fourth position, with Bradley Smith close behind. Repsol Honda rider Marquez eventually claimed the spot. "Today the temperature rose sharply; we had not ridden in such conditions at any time this the weekend. On the fourth lap I started to notice that I had a lot of problems with the front end. I think all the Hondas had the same trouble; in fact a lot crashed after losing front grip because we were really suffering. We knew that with a rise in temperature, conditions change, but we expected it to be for the better and this time it was for the worse. We must learn from this race and especially from the data we have gathered."

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Andrea Iannone - Photo courtesy of Ducati

Andrea Iannone had injured his shoulder while testing at Mugello just days before Le Mans, but qualified on the second row and finished in fifth position. “This was a really difficult race for me, maybe the most difficult of my career. At the start I was feeling fine, I had good pace and I was pleased with the way things were going. Up until lap 10 I was lapping quickly behind Lorenzo and Dovizioso, but then I began to feel pain in my left arm and had to use my right arm more to compensate. As a result I could no longer brake the way I wanted. I also made a couple of mistakes, losing some time, and I was caught by Smith and Marquez, with whom I had a really great scrap."

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Bradley Smith - Photo courtesy of Tech3

Tec3 rider Bradley Smith qualified on the second row and ran in fifth position for much of the race, before getting caught up in the battle between Marc Marquez and Andrea Iannone. Smith finished just behind Iannone in sixth on his Yamaha YZR-M1, "I am happy and it was a great way to end the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team’s home race! The track conditions really warmed up today, which meant that we all went a bit into the unknown as it was much cooler on the other days. Therefore our setting was slightly limited at the beginning of the race because it resulted in me tucking the front a few times in the opening laps."

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Pol Espargaro - Photo courtesy of Tech3

Pol Espargaro finished in seventh position on the Tech3 Yamaha. Immediately after the race, Espargaro underwent surgery for compartment syndrome (arm pump) in his right arm, and hopes to be ready for the next round at Mugello.

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Dani Pedrosa - Photo courtesy of Honda

Dani Pedrosa returned to action following several races off to recover from arm pump surgery. The Repsol Honda rider qualified on the third row but crashed on the second lap of the race, remounting to finish in 16th position. " I tried to restart the engine and get back in the race, even though the handlebars were bent, because I wanted to try completing an entire race. It was a positive test for me, although there is still room for improvement, but fitness-wise things are a little better. Hopefully we can improve even more over the coming weeks.”

2015 Le Mans MotoGP - Nicky Hayden - Photo courtesy of Team Aspar

Nicky Hayden qualified and finished as top Open rider, with an 11th-place finish in the race. “The team did a great job yesterday and it was good to start the race from further up the grid than we have been doing lately. I made a good start and held my position over the opening laps and the changes the team had made to the bike yesterday evening worked well. It was nice to be able to take the bike where I wanted and to finish as the top Open is a bonus."

While Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo steamrollered his way to his second victory in as many MotoGP races, it was an eventful race further down the field. Scroll through the gallery above to see our favorite 10 action shots from the Le Mans MotoGP event, each with a brief comment from the rider or notes about the race.

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