So far this season, there have only been Fiat Yamaha riders to stand on the top of the podium. Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi each have a race win and a podium finish this year, and will look to continue their winning ways at the MotoGP event in Le Mans.
Lorenzo, who is leading the 2010 MogoGp season by four points, will have to overcome a healthy Rossi if he wants the win at Le Mans. Rossi has had two weeks to recover from his shoulder injury, and looks to be in good shape for this weekend's race.
"My shoulder is more or less recovered now so I hope I will be back to full strength in Le Mans. Despite the disaster of last year's race, Le Mans is a good track for me and the Yamaha always goes well there," said Rossi. The biggest problem is the weather, but after last year I think we deserve a sunny French GP! We've made a good start to the season, with the win in Qatar and then another podium, but we have also struggled with the bike in some areas and so we need to try to improve our performance.”
Lorenzo is coming off of his first win of the MotoGP season, and is returning to a track where he won last year, but Lorenzo isn't about to let that go to his head.
"Despite our victory in Jerez and taking the lead in the world standings I continue to think that I am not the favorite because the season is very long and it has only just started! I am very proud however because Jerez was my first victory at home in MotoGP. Last year I won in Le Mans in an amazing and crazy race. It was very complicated because of the rain and drying track, but I think that everybody in our team did an unbelievable job. I hope the fans aren't waiting for a repeat this weekend!”
Lorenzo and Rossi will have strong competition from one another, but also look for Dani Pedrosa to take a stab at the top of the podium. Pedrossa has won three times at Le Mans, but never in the premier division.
Nicky Hayden will also look for his first podium finish of the 2010 MotoGP season. Hayden has finished in fourth place in both races so far.
MotoGP Standings
1 Jorge LORENZO - 45
2 Valentino ROSSI - 41
3 Dani PEDROSA - 29
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO - 26
5 Nicky HAYDEN - 26
6 Randy DE PUNIET - 17
7 Colin EDWARDS - 12
8 Casey STONER - 11
9 Ben SPIES - 11
10 Marco MELANDRI - 11
11 Marco SIMONCELLI - 10
12 Mika KALLIO - 9
13 Hiroshi AOYAMA - 8
14 Loris CAPIROSSI - 7
15 Hector BARBERA - 7
16 Alvaro BAUTISTA - 6
17 Aleix ESPARGARO - 1
