Le Mans (France), 17th May 2015

After an amazing victory in Jerez, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo dominated the MotoGP field for a second time in a row, taking a sensational victory at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. Valentino Rossi also showed a blistering pace in the French sunshine at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit. He claimed a strong second place and his fifth podium finish of the season.Lorenzo was strong right from the beginning of the 28 lap sprint. Starting from third on the grid, he shot off the line to take second into the first turn and move into the lead going into the second corner. Followed by Andrea Dovizioso, he completed the first lap with already nearly half a second advantage over his rivals.With clear track in front of him, the double premier class World Champion put the hammer down and rode consistently fast lap times in the 1‘33s to manage a gap of half a second. Completely in control, Lorenzoremained unchallenged for the rest of the race. Leading from the first lap until the chequered flag, the Spaniard claimed his second consecutive victory by 3.820s, with only his teammate besting his fastest lap of 1‘33.004.

Teammate Rossi thoroughly enjoyed today‘s racing action, fighting his way up the order from his seventh place grid position. The Doctor had a good start and quickly moved into fifth position to hunt down Marc Marquez, passing him with a brilliant move on his third lap.

The nine-time world champion then set his sights on Andrea Iannone and increased his pace, posting a 1‘32.879, the fastest lap of the race. With 18 laps to go Rossi made the audience cheer as he took third place and immediately put his next target, Andrea Dovizioso, under pressure. Displaying some very clever racing, he lined his rival up and made his move at end of the fourteenth lap. Unable to close in on his teammate, who had a gap of more than 1.8s, Rossi focused on managing his advantage over Dovizioso and took a well-deserved second.

Lorenzo‘s first place earns him 25 points, while Rossi‘s fifth podium of the year adds 20 points to his score. These results put The Doctor on 102 points, keeping him in the lead for the championship, with teammateLorenzo moving up to second in the championship with a 87 points total.

eom/Movistar Yamaha press release

French MotoGP™ Top Ten Race Classification

Pos

Rider

Team

Race Time

Gap

Front spec

Rear spec

Tyres

1

Jorge LORENZO

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

43'44.143

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

2

Valentino ROSSI

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

43'47.963

3.820

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

3

Andrea DOVIZIOSO

Ducati Team

43'56.523

12.380

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

4

Marc MARQUEZ

Repsol Honda Team

44'04.033

19.890

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

5

Andrea IANNONE

Ducati Team

44'04.380

20.237

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

6

Bradley SMITH

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

44'05.288

21.145

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

7

Pol ESPARGARO

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

44'19.636

35.493

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

8

Yonny HERNANDEZ

Pramac Racing

44'23.744

39.601

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

9

Maverick VIÑALES

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR

44'25.714

41.571

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone

10

Danilo PETRUCCI

Pramac Racing

44'26.932

42.789

Soft

Soft

Bridgestone