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While it might have been Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci who took the top spot on the wet Le Mans podium, there’s an argument to be made that the biggest winner from the French Grand Prix was Honda.
The troubled factory enjoyed its best day by far of the 2020 MotoGP season.
Star among its performers was rookie Alex Marquez, who made the most of rain as a great leveller to show exactly why he deserves one of the most coveted seats in motorsport.
Charging through the field in the latter stages of the race, he looked like he could challenging for a shock win from 18th on the grid, before he eventually settled for a still incredible second place behind Petrucci.
Showing just how much he’s improved on the RC213V since his debut at Jerez in July, Marquez rode a flawless race to – incredibly – become Honda’s first MotoGP podium finisher of the season so far.
“If you crash at the end, no one remembers your race!” :: Alex Marquez
“It was a long and difficult race from 18th,” he admitted at the end of the 25 laps, “but I knew from the start that it would be possible to make something good.
“I honestly didn’t expect the podium, but I made a good start, made a risky attack on the first corner, and then had to just warm up the tyres for a few laps.
“I was getting more and more feeling and confidence, and I knew I could go further.
“I saw the gap the Ducatis had and I didn’t think I could catch them – then they started to play with each other and I knew I could catch them.
“The key was that I lost a little bit of time passing [Andrea] Dovi[zioso].
“He was so fast on the straights and in the braking so I had to make another plan to pass him, and it was so difficult.
“Petrux was just a little bit far ahead at the end, so I just took it easy. If you crash at the end, no one remembers your race!”
It’s hard to overestimate just how important the performance could be for his future, too.
Marquez is set to move to the satellite LCR Honda team for 2021 in a deal secured before even racing for Honda in 2020, and during a period in which he was weathering criticism for securing the factory Honda seat.
“I agree with the people who have criticised me this year because I haven’t been fast, but I don’t care about the people critical of my move” :: Alex Marquez
Parachuted in when Jorge Lorenzo dramatically retired at the end of 2019 alongside his brother and reigning world champion Marc, Alex has since then been repeatedly called out as only having the ride because of his surname.
However, the reigning Moto2 world champion was happy to put his critics to bed on Sunday after the podium, silencing many of them the best way possible – by going fast.
“In the end I know why I’m here and why I’m wearing these colours,” he said,
“I’m a two-time world champion and they promoted me to this team. Of course things were a bit strange when Lorenzo said in the last race that he wasn’t continuing, but the team trusted me. Because of that I know why I’m here.
“Sometimes, critics are good because they give you some motivation to keep going – they give you fuel.
“I agree with the people who have criticised me this year because I haven’t been fast, especially in qualifying, but I don’t care about the people critical of my move.”
While Marquez’s second place might have been the headline event for Honda on Sunday, the icing on the cake was KTM rider Pol Espargaro coming home only half a second behind him in third.
Espargaro will replace Marquez in Repsol Honda colours next season, and he too was able to demonstrate exactly why the factory has put its faith in him by delivering a mature performance while many of his experienced rivals failed to properly control their own races.
Sometimes accused of being hot-headed and prone to on-track mistakes, Espargaro never put a foot wrong in tricky conditions while the likes of Joan Mir and Cal Crutchlow crashed out around him.
He was also able to ensure his wet tyres went the distance on the damp and abrasive Le Mans surface – a factor that was crucial in stealing the podium away from Dovizioso in the closing stages of the race.
Sunday’s results aside, there was plenty more for Honda to be happy about at Le Mans in the continuing absence of Marc Marquez due to injury.
Impressive pace for satellite rider Crutchlow in qualifying took him very close to a very front row start of the year, with the Brit content that the RC213V was once again working at a traditionally strong track.
Crutchlow was unable to capitalise on it in a wet race after crashing out of the battle for the top six, but there were nonetheless points of the weekend that he can now build on, especially as the remainder of the season gets closer to winter and colder and colder conditions.
“If you see the two racetracks that have had good grip, here and Misano, we’ve really felt the benefit,” Crutchlow told The Race yesterday.
“Our bike doesn’t have the best rear grip, but we’ve been able to feel the benefit here.
“When the track is cold and quite tricky a lot of the other manufacturers and riders struggle with the rear end sliding around quite a bit too, but we’re so used to it because it’s always like that.
“I think Misano, on the Friday that I did do and for Alex Marquez and Taka [Nakagami] in the second race, showed that.”
Further back in the field, Crutchlow’s team-mate Nakagami was able to continue his own strong season on the 2019 machine, securing his ninth consecutive top 10 finish of the season – the only rider this year to come home in the points at every race.
However, there’s still an important lesson to be learned for Honda from Sunday’s performances.
The bike’s acknowledged as the hardest to ride, most physical and aggressive on the MotoGP grid, and it’s telling that the RC213V riders were able to extract their best performances of the season when that power was electronically dialled down for the wet conditions.
That’s a lesson that Honda has to take to heart if it’s truly going to build a machine that can be campaigned on a regular basis by riders who don’t have the superhuman talent of Marc Marquez.
It’s unlikely to happen for 2021, though, with MotoGP’s COVID-induced cost-saving rules freezing engine development until the end of next season – a move that was perhaps unsurprisingly opposed by only one manufacturer: Honda.
