Comienza el Gran Premio Monster Energy de Francia

This first meeting was attended by the current leader of the championship Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team), the champion in title of the queen category Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and his teammate and winner of the last race in Jerez, Valentino Rossi, in addition to Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and the local driver Loris Baz (Avintia Racing) in regards to the queen category.

On the other hand, the current Moto2 ™ world champion Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) and his rival in the intermediate category Jonas Folger also appeared, who this afternoon announced his move to MotoGP ™ next season at the hands of Monster Yamaha Tech 3.

After the third place achieved two weeks ago in Spain, Marquez He was the first to speak: «We are being consistent and at least we are also improving little by little. At this moment I want to stay that way. We work hard with Honda and it seems that step by step we are improving. It's not a circuit that I like very much, but for my style it goes well. Last year we had some problems with the front train; we will see if we can move on this weekend».

Lawrence he remains second in the classification after being second in Spain, behind his teammate: «Le Mans has always been one of my favorite circuits. Last year we did well with the victory, precisely after two years of not so good results. Michelin is working hard and has brought three new rear tires ».

Rossi, brand new winner of the last GP of Spain, arrives at Le Mans with renewed expectations: «You have to be fast and it is always difficult in this circuit. We must also see how the weather is; I hope it's like in the last two years. In this time I have not won, but I have always been strong. Now we have to see how the tires behave in this circuit. Here you are strong if you can stop late ».

After a complicated beginning of the year, Spreaded He has achieved two fifth consecutive places in the last two races, thus stabilizing his results on the handlebars of the Suzuki: «The beginning of the year has been very difficult. In Qatar it was a disaster, but we started to improve in Argentina until we got two fifth places and being closer to the best. Now I hope to continue improving ».

After achieving the twelfth place last year in Le Mans, Loris Baz now has with Ducati a new opportunity to shine before his audience: «What I have achieved so far is better than nothing. In Argentina and Texas we were doing better and things unexpectedly twisted. Nobody is waiting for you, but I think we are doing a great job on the team. My partner Héctor is in the top ten in each race, so it would be great to do the same this weekend. Public support is the best. I remember when I came as a child to see the races at Le Mans and now I am very happy to be on the other side ».

For his part, Zarco achieved third place last year in Moto2 ™ and now hopes to offer a victory to his audience: «Moto2 is always competitive and I do not regret having stayed because I continue to learn a lot. I will try to be champion again. It is a great experience, although it is costing us to improve. Last year I had opportunities to be in MotoGP, but I prefer it to be in 2017 after winning the title again as Pedrosa or Lorenzo did before ».

Shortly before the press conference it was revealed that the Moto2 ™ rider Jonas Folger will run next season on MotoGP ™ with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team; the German spoke about it: «I am very happy and excited because this is a dream. I'm happy because Tech 3 and Yamaha have trusted me to give me this great opportunity. I have known them for many years for the paddock, but in these last two weeks everything has materialized and I am very happy about it ».

The action on the track will begin on Friday, May 6 at 09.00 local time with the first free practice session for the Moto3 ™ category. (MotoGP)