Valentino Rossi has had six podium finishes in the premier-class at Le Mans, including three victories; in 2002 riding a Honda, 2005 and last year on a Yamaha. His win in France last year was his 90th GP victory – the same number of GP victories as Angel Nieto. Rossi’s win at Jerez was the 12th successive race at which he has stood on the podium.
Casey Stoner’s third place finish in 2007 is his only podium in any class of racing at the Le Mans circuit. Last year Stoner finished 16th at Le Mans, his first non-scoring ride on Ducati, after his bike slowed with mechanical problems and he came in to change to his second bike(on different tyres) as the race had been
declared "wet".
Jorge Lorenzo’s single victory at Le Mans came in 2007 in the 250cc race after he had qualified on pole. Last year at Le Mans he was still suffering with injuries from his crash during practice in China but finished second, despite having completed lap two down in 11th place.
Dani Pedrosa had great success at Le Mans riding in the smaller classes having won the 125cc GP there in 2003 and the 250cc race in both 2004 and 2005. He also started from pole and finished on the podium at Le Mans on his first visit riding a MotoGP machine in 2006. He was 4th and top Michelin rider in the wet race of 2007 and was 4th again last year after starting from pole for the first time in 2008.
