Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez at Le Mans MotoGP2014 Le Mans MotoGPThe 2014 MotoGP Championship headed this past weekend to France’s Le Mans Bugatti circuit, a 2.6-mile circuit that is usually plagued with rain.
But the entire MotoGP weekend was held under sunny conditions, which allowed for warmer track conditions and faster lap times.Taking the quickest time – and his fifth-consecutive win in as many rounds – was Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. The 21-year-old Repsol Honda RC213V pilot has broken record after record so far this season, and this includes a new circuit lap of 1:33.548 en route to the Le Mans MotoGP win.Marquez began from the pole, but had a rough start, falling back to ninth. But he charged through the field, and took the lead from Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi on the 12th lap.Marquez would finish ahead of Rossi, who took his third second-place finish of 2014, and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, who took his first podium since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix.Bridgestone reports that the track temperature Sunday reached its highest level of the race weekend, with a figure of 46°C recorded in the final stages of the race. Race tire choice amongst the riders was similar to that from Saturday’s Free Practice 4 session, with the soft compound front and rear slicks proving to be most popular.Only one rider selected the medium compound front slick for the race – Pramac Racing Ducati’s Andrea Iannone – the other 21 riders selected the soft compound front. Fourteen of the 22 starters opted for the soft compound rear slick, while eight riders selected the extra-soft rear that was available only to the Ducati and Open-class entrants. Despite the warmer than usual temperatures at Le Mans, tire performance during race was excellent, with today’s French Grand Prix having the highest average speed ever recorded at this circuit, Bridgestone reports.Shinji Aoki, Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tire Development Department, says “It’s been a while since we had a completely dry race weekend at Le Mans, and the constant fine weather gave riders plenty of time to find a setup to get the best performance out of the tires.“The pace this year was a big step forward from last year, but the riders also commented that the warm-up performance and safety of our tires at Le Mans has also improved, so I am pleased with this result. New Circuit Best Lap, Race Lap and overall race time records were set this weekend at Le Mans. This is a very positive outcome for Bridgestone and shows that our revised tire allocation for this circuit worked well for the riders.”Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda winner, says “I enjoyed today quite a lot, particularly the early part of the race. Maybe I was too calm in the early laps, I knew my rhythm was good so maybe I had too much confidence.“Then when Lorenzo overtook me, I started to go quick and overtaking many riders which I enjoyed. When I was in second place I saw Rossi in front so I pushed 100-percent and when I reached Valentino I thought it would be a fight to pass him, but he made a mistake which allowed me to get through. I’m really happy for my fifth victory in a row, and I want to enjoy this moment as even though it looked easy, it was difficult go get the win.”For a review of the round, visit 2014 Le Mans MotoGP Results.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!