MotoGP rider quotes
Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez:
“After another really great weekend in Jerez and a positive day of testing on Monday, we are now on our way to Le Mans. You never know what the weather will do there so it is important to start strong from FP1. Last year we had our first wet race here and I really learned a lot, but this year I hope it will remain dry! We know that Dani, Jorge and Valentino will come back at us hard here, but we will work on our own programme - as usual - and fight for victory or at least some important championship points.”
Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa:
“I enjoyed the weekend in Jerez, and the battle at the end with Rossi was a lot of fun. After Monday’s test I had a tight feeling in my right forearm. On Tuesday morning I went to see Dr Xavier Mir and he recommended surgery immediately. We took his advice and it seems to be healing up well but I guess I won’t know until I’m back on the bike on Friday for FP1. I won for the first time in Le Mans in MotoGP last year in a very tough race. I enjoy the circuit and we’ve had good results there in the past but we must always pay attention to the weather! The testing in Jerez was useful and we confirmed some feelings, now we must see if they translate to the track this weekend.”
LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl:
“As everybody knows I had another surgery to treat the arm-pump problem which affected my race in Jerez. The operation was quick and successful and in recent days I’ve made all the treatments required to be fit for Le Mans. Actually I cannot make any prediction because I must see how it goes when I am on track. Anyway, I had the operation at the right time because the season is still long and there’s enough time to recover completely and try to be in the front very soon.”
Drive 7 Aspar Honda rider Nicky Hayden:
“Le Mans has never been a great track for me personally and truthfully it's not my favourite, but when we were kids my dad never let us say we don’t like a track so I never say it! What I can say is that there are some fun corners and great fans. Unfortunately for us at the moment there is a lot of acceleration coming out of slow corners, which is not the strongest point of our bike. Anyway, I need to understand how much my wrist irritation from Jerez has improved and try to keep the progress we made in Spain rolling, go have so fun and go fast!”
Drive 7 Aspar Honda rider Hiroshi Aoyama:
“We have been in good form over the first four races of the season and we have improved the set-up of our bike a lot, especially during the test following the race at Jerez. We found some things that I am looking forward to trying out at Le Mans. It will be a difficult circuit for us with so many straights and slow corners where you need to get the bike stopped. Anyway, we go there full of motivation and determined to maintain our good form from Jerez. Le Mans has a very rich history in motorsport and I love the atmosphere there. Hopefully we can have a good weekend in France and find some consistency in the first part of the race, which is what we lacked in Spain. That's the objective.”
Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider Scott Redding:
“Last year in Le Mans I won my first race in the Moto2 class, so I am very happy to return to this circuit. The only concern is related to possible difficult conditions because of the bad weather: I’ve not had the opportunity to ride a MotoGP bike in wet conditions, so this would be a completely new situation for me. Otherwise, if the track will remain dry, I think that it can suit the characteristics of our bike, as long as we can find more grip than we did in Jerez. Like Jerez, Le Mans is quite a narrow and small track, so it will take a little time to adjust the electronic controls and to adapt my riding style, but I think that we learned a lot from this point of view from the Spanish GP weekend, also considering the positive day of testing carried out after the race.”
Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista:
“Le Mans is not one of my favourite tracks and probably this is due to the fact that often the bad weather makes it difficult to work properly on the bike during practice. In any case, our goal remains the same we set ourselves before Jerez, that is to collect as many points as possible. It’s difficult, however, to make a prediction, because the weather forecasts predict rain for Sunday. During the test we have carried out the day after the Spanish Grand Prix, we could test several new solutions that have worked well: therefore, we hope that they will prove useful also on this track.”
