In the first flag-to-flag race since 2017, Pol Espargaro faced all conditions when Marc Marquez led a Grand Prix again but was ultimately disappointed.
Sunday at the French GP 2021 would prove to be a day of two halves: a soaking wet morning giving way to a seemingly sunny and pleasant afternoon. But in the distance dark clouds emerged as the MotoGP starting grid for the 27-lap race is due. Marc Marquez finished sixth and Pol Espargaro eighth. The clear sky disappeared after only a few laps as the clouds crept in and soon opened. On lap five, the entire MotoGP field pitted to swap dry bikes for wet ones when the rain started.
It was a dramatic first round for Pol Espargaro, who plunged into the heat of the fight alongside Marquez and Nakagami after a strong start. Contact with Morbidelli forced the Repsol Honda Team rider to fall behind and step out of the top 5. But the call to the pits brought Espargaro back into the battle for the top 5 when the field returned to the track with wet tires. A drying track at Le Mans made the race even more difficult in the final laps, as Espargaro and the other drivers retired on wet tires. It was a lonely end to the race for Espargaro, who achieved his best result in the Repsol Honda team colors with eighth place down the line.
A perfect run into the pits and a subsequent bike swap resulted in Marc Marquez converting his early racing speed into racing leadership when he returned from the pit lane to the track. Marquez looked good in the lead and steadily increased his lead until a highside in the last corner sent the eight-time world champion to the ground. With the spirit of a champion, Marquez stepped back in to see what would be possible if more than half the race was still going.
Marquez set the fastest times on the track and made his way forward and into the points. But a second crash, this time at Turn 6, ended Marquez’s run at the French GP. He walked away without injury but was bitterly disappointed with the end result after showing that potential.
Alex Marquez picked up the top Honda award for the LCR Honda Team in sixth place after battling for the podium in wet conditions in the middle of the race. His LCR Honda colleague Takaaki Nakagami was another protagonist on the podium for much of the race as the Japanese rider put together another solid weekend on the Honda RC213V.
The MotoGP World Championship is now preparing to drive to the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley in Mugello the following weekend before the Catalan GP. Both sides of the Repsol Honda Team’s garage are determined to capitalize on the potential they showed at Le Mans over the weekend.