by Tracy Hagen

Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo won the dramatic French MotoGP race on Sunday and lifted himself back to the top of the points chase following a flawless ride in miserably wet conditions. The former world champion started from the second row of the grid but controlled the race by the mid-point of the first lap and was never challenged by fellow riders or the slippery racing surface over the duration of the race. The Spaniard left Le Mans with 90 championship points and an 8 point lead of current world champion Casey Stoner.

Indeed, Lorenzo’s lead was large enough that the television broadcast focused on the suspenseful race for second. Pole sitter Dani Pedrosa held second over the opening lap, but his Repsol Honda teammate Stioner cleanly passed Pedrosa on the second lap.

On the third lap Valentino Rossi surged past Pedrosa on the Ducati while braking for a left turn. The Italian was every bit of his old self at Le Mans and, in fact, set the fastest lap of the race after the rain subsided.

Pedrosa, however, was now shark bait at this point for the Monster Yamahas of Andrea Dovisioso and Cal Crutchlow, with rookie rider Stefan Bradl on a non-factory Honda joining in on the action.

Dovisioso wasted no time in passing his former Repsol Honda teammate on lap 4, nor did Crutchlow. Pedrosa then spent the next dozen or so laps fighting back Bradl.

Laps 5 through11 saw less than two seconds covering the four-rider race for second. Crutchlow passed Dovi on lap 10. On lap 13 Crutchlow passed Rossi going into the chicane, which slowed the pair down enough to allow Dovisioso to pass both of them.

On lap 15 Rossi shot past Crutchlow on a short straight. By this point the rain was letting up and Rossi and found a rhythm that was taking him back to the front.

On lap 19 Crutchlow slid off the track and his bike, but was soon back in the race in eighth place and not much worse for wear. Before the lap was over Rossi moved in front of Dovisioso for third place.

By this point Rossi was now setting lap times much better than second-place Stoner. Stoner’s advantage was less than four seconds at the end of lap 20, with eight laps left to go.

By the end of lap 23 Rossi and Dovisioso were on the rear wheel of Stoner and neither had no interest in waiting to make a move. Stoner was held up by Yonny Hernandez for several corners, increasing the tension. Unfortunately, Dovisioso fell after pushing his front tire more than it was willing to give.

On the penultimate lap Rossi passed Stoner going into the chicane, ran wide, and Stoner took the position back. At the end of the lap Rossi made a similar move with a similar result.

On the final lap Rossi passed Stoner for the third and final time. The lap probably felt like an eternity for Rossi, but Stoner never mounted a counter-attack. Rossi’s second place came a year after his only podium finish for Ducati.

In the CRT superbike division, James Ellison topped the class and turned his year around after three frustrating races and nearly losing his MotoGP CRT ride.

Finally, as in most wet-weather races, there were plenty of “what is he doing?” moments in this race. Two happened right at the start: Randy De Puniet crashed at the start, on the grid, having barely moved an inch. Ben Spies nearly did the same but saved it, legs flailing about while the rest of the field (other than De Puniet) roared away. Spies later pitted to clean his visor and lost his chance to score points. The Texan left Le Mans last in the points standings for prototype class riders and with few excuses.

Next race: Catalunya, June 3.