MotoGP™: Petrucci wins at Le Mans aided by the exceptional grip delivered by his MICHELIN Power Rain tyres

The 2020 SHARK Helmets Grand Prix de France – Round 10 of the MotoGPTM World Championship – was won by Ducati Team’s Danilo Petrucci, ahead of Alex Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Racing Factory). The outstanding grip provided by the MICHELIN Power Rain as heavy rain swept over Le Mans-Bugatti was acclaimed by all the teams. Three different makes featured on the podium, while Frenchman Fabio Quartararo continues to top the provisional Riders’ standings.  

A heavy shower moments before the start of the 2020 French Grand Prix led Race Control to declare a Wet Race as all the riders lined up on either soft or medium MICHELIN Power Rain tyres.

With the race-distance shortened to 26 laps, Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) pounced from second on the grid to lead out of Turn 1, but Petrucci was in front by the completion of the opening lap, chased by the Australian and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team).

Despite a ground temperature of 14°C, the racing line began to dry as a tightly-packed bunch formed at the front of the field. Dovizioso briefly replaced Petrucci at the top of the order on Lap 18 but the latter took advantage of his combination of medium- and soft-compound tyres front and rear to regain control moments later. The Italian went on to claim the second MotoGPTM victory of his career and also earn Ducati’s first-ever success at Le Mans, in addition to becoming the seventh different rider to win one of the nine races contested this season so far.

Visibly in his element on his soft MICHELIN Power Rain tyres, Márquez fought back from 18th place to claim his first podium finish at MotoGPTM level and provide Repsol Honda Team with its first top-three placing of the year. The Spanish rookie is the 15th different rider to have taken part in podium celebrations in 2020.

The entertaining race played out in front of 5,000 spectators who saw Espargaro clinch third place on the penultimate lap and make it three different bikemakers and two different tyre combinations on the rostrum.

Dovizioso ended up fourth, ahead of Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) who produced a sensational late charge on medium MICHELIN Power Rain tyres front and rear. The Frenchman harvested the fastest race lap (1m43.301s) with two laps to go and passed Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) last time around to secure the top Independent Team Rider prize on home soil.

The championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha Petronas SRT) qualified on pole position in dry conditions, but his lack of experience in the wet meant he had to settle for 10th place at the flag, behind Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) and Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team).

In addition to being fitted for the race, the MICHELIN Power Rain also got to showcase its outstanding grip performance during Friday’s practice, which helped the riders to choose between the soft and medium variants for Sunday’s grand prix.

Quartararo (115 points) continues to top the provisional Riders’ classification, ahead of Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Joan Mir (105) and Dovizioso (97).

Next round: Gran Premio Michelin® de Aragón, MotorLand Aragón, Spain (October 16-18).