In what was the most heartbreaking sight for MotoGP fans in a long time, Valentino Rossi crashed on the final lap of the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, as teammate Maverick Vinales went on to secure his third win of the season. Vinales was joined by Johann Zarco of Tech 3 Yamaha claiming his maiden podium finish, after Rossi's crash promoted him to second place. Honda's Dani Pedrosa clenched a podium this season finishing third.
Maverick Vinales secured his third win of this season
The French GP started with Vinales and Rossi in the lead, followed by Tech 3's Zarco riding on his home circuit. The French rider was quick to take lead at Turn 2 with a clean move taking Vinales. Riding on soft tyres at the front and rear, Zarco lead the race in the initial laps before the Yamaha riders started to build the pressure. The race turned into a three way battle but not for long as Vinales reclaimed the lead on Lap 7.
Meanwhile, Zarco was fending off pressure from Rossi, but finally gave in on Lap 23 with Italian now in P2. Rossi's surge continued as he went on to catch up with teammate Vinales and passed him three laps later in the 28 lap race. With Rossi now in the lead, it seemed nothing could go wrong for the world champion as he set his sight on the finally taking his first win for this season.
However, as luck would have it, Rossi ran wide on Turn 8 allowing Vinales to pass but eventually felt at Turn 11 crashing out.
Rossi made a mistake in the final lap crashing at Turn 11
While Rossi fans are sure to be shattered, Honda's Pedrosa made some fantastic moves finishing third after starting a distant 13th. The Spanish rider climbed to seventh early in the race passing Ducati Andrea Dovizioso and later passed LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow to take fifth place behind teammate Marc Marquez. But the defending world champion crashed on Lap 18 while in fourth place, promoting Pedrosa in his place. Rossi's crash however, further pushed Dani to third, helping him take the second consecutive podium this season.
Ducati's Dovizioso finished fourth while Crutchlow finished fifth. Having secured his first podium at Jerez this season, Jorge Lorenzo finished sixth in Le Mans starting eighth, all thanks to the extensive crashes.
Marc Marquez crashed in 4th, promoting to Pedrosa in his place
Moving down, Tech 3's Jonas Folger finished seventh followed by Jack Miller of Marc VDS Honda and Loris Baz of Avintia Ducati at eighth and ninth respectively. Suzuki's Andra Iannone completed the top 10.
KTM riders Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith finished 12th and 13th respectively, behind Tito Rabat of Honda. Sam Lowes also scored his first points finishing 14th for Aprilia, ahead of Alex Rins' Suzuki stand-in Sylvain Guintoli, who completed the scorers in 15th.
Zarco has made some incredible progress this season
Apart from Rossi and Marquez, Danilo Petrucci, Scott Redding, Danilo Petrucci, Karel Abraham and Hector Barbera suffered early retirements. Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro suffered an engine failure while running eighth, ending his run earlier than expected.
