The 2020 French Grand Prix podium finishers have all admitted that they’re hoping for redemption this weekend as they try to get their 2021 MotoGP seasons back on track – and are hoping that forecast rain at the Bugatti circuit will help them repeat their feats from last October.
Danilo Petrucci, Alex Marquez and Pol Espargaro have all had terrible starts to their respective seasons so far, with all three a long way from repeating their podium success of seven months ago.
But, with the stereotypical Le Mans rain that hit the delayed 2020 running of the race forecast to occur again in 2021, they’re all aware that the equalising effect of tricky conditions can offer a chance to turn things around.
“It’s really a good opportunity to make a good step forward,” admitted rain specialist Petrucci, who took a superb victory for Ducati last year before switching to KTM and home heroes Tech3 for 2021.
“It’s a fact that I’ve always liked here and that the bike was on the podium last year. It’s a good chance for me and the bike, because we’re good on the track in both wet and dry conditions.
“Right now we know that the bike is good on braking and it’s mostly a hard-braking track so I’m confident we can have a good weekend. I think I’m one of the only people happy to be here with this weather!”
Petrucci’s new employer KTM was strong from the off last year after considerable changes to the RC16, but this year has been a different story as the KTMs have struggled at all four of the opening races.
But following KTM’s first chance to test since the season started after another disappointing race last time out at Jerez, Petrucci says he’s going into this weekend a lot more confident come wet or dry.
“I wanted to be faster in these first races,” he told The Race, “and we’ve been trying to adapt the bike to myself.
“We didn’t move forward, so in the test in Jerez we had the opportunity to compare some things we’ve tried in the first races, and we decided to try and stay calm for the moment with the set-up.
“Here, it’s a good track for us because of how good the bike is on braking, and I’m really happy to try the bike at another track, especially one that was good for KTM in 2019 and 2020 in both conditions.
“For sure it’s time to take a step forward because I’m not happy with the results I’m having. I need to adapt more to the bike and try to be faster.”
The hope for a benefit from wet conditions isn’t limited to Petrucci, though, with Alex Marquez also hoping for a similar boost should conditions be tricky.
“With the rain, you never know,” said the LCR Honda rider, whose Le Mans podium was his first in MotoGP.
“It’s like a lottery where you need to be there to see how it changes from one year to the next, but it’s true that we have a good reference from last year, especially on the electronic side, and hopefully if we have rain we can try this set-up and it’s still working.
“We have the same tyres which is positive, we’ll be prepared for everything and take the opportunities in every session to be in the top 10 and to go directly to Q2.”
Perhaps the rider most hungry for success at Le Mans, though, is Marquez’s replacement at Repsol Honda, Pol Espargaro. Yet, unlike the others, he’s actually hoping that the conditions stay dry all weekend as he continues to learn the intricacies of the RC213V.
“If you told me that even with the wet race I would have a very good result,” he admitted, “I wouldn’t like to take it because at the moment we’re going in one direction in the dry and I’m trying to adapt to the bike and to understand it. I’m trying to be fast in normal and dry conditions.
“It wouldn’t be like starting from zero, but it is like turning to a new page. I know that everything we do won’t be helpful in the dry.
“Everyone in the paddock knows everyone is giving their 100%, and if we’re fast in the dry we’ll be fast everywhere, but if we’re fast in the wet maybe it’ll only be in Le Mans.”
