MotoGP Grand Prix of France 2015 Results: Winner, Standings and Reaction

Yamaha extended their lead over Honda at the top of the MotoGP manufacturer standings, with Jorge Lorenzo winning the Grand Prix of France and fans’ favourite Valentino Rossi crossing the line second, as MotoGP’s official Twitter feed revealed:

World champion Marc Marquez started in pole position chasing just his third grand prix victory of the season, but he failed to take advantage, as Lorenzo flew out of the traps and sneaked in front after an error from the Spaniard.

He made a big lunge for the lead in the first chicane but ran horribly wide and gifted the lead to the Yamaha star.

It wasn’t long before both Yamaha riders were ahead of Marquez, though, as Rossi performed a fantastic overtake at T9 to edge in front, as MotoGP’s video shows:

Andrea Dovizioso kept tabs on the pair, while Marquez was doing some rather questionable riding.

Every lap, he seemed to lose ground on the leaders, with wide corners and mistimed attacks blowing his chances out of the water.

For Lorenzo, meanwhile, the race plan was a simple one: go fast.

David Vincent/Associated Press

The way that he came out of the blocks was remarkable, and that rather set the tone for the rest of the race. It was pure speed and aggression.

He was showing Marquez-esque dominance from the front, extending his lead lap by lap and showing no signs of faltering. Journalist Matthew Roberts labelled it textbook racing from the Spaniard:

At the halfway point, Lorenzo was 1.8 seconds ahead of Rossi, who had Dovizioso, Marquez and Andrea Iannone in hot pursuit around 15 seconds back of the leader.

David Vincent/Associated Press

Marquez, however, then decided to turn on the style and treated us to one of the best jostles for fourth place this season.

The Spaniard and Iannone were battling on every corner as the laps ticked by, nodding back to their duels of Moto2, as MotoGP remarked:

The world champion then showed exactly why he’s one of the best in the business, nipping in front of his rival to take fourth.

That’s how it remained, with Lorenzo crossing first to claim his fifth French Grand Prix victory at Le Mans and his second on the spin after victory in Spain.

Here’s a look at the full results from Sunday’s race:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Time/Gap
1	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha	43 mins 44.143 secs
2	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Yamaha	+3.820
3	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Ducati	+12.380
4	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Honda	+19.890
5	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Ducati	+20.237
6	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Yamaha	+21.145
7	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Yamaha	+35.493
8	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Ducati	+39.601
9	Maverick VIÑALES	SPA	Suzuki	+41.571
10	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Ducati	+42.789
11	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Honda	+53.636
12	Loris BAZ	FRA	Yamaha Forward	+1'00.617
13	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Ducati	+1'04.272
14	Eugene LAVERTY	IRL	Honda	+1'05.259
15	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Aprilia	+1'05.515
16	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Honda	+1'20.907
17	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	ART	+1'21.663
18	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Aprilia	1 Lap
DNF	Jack MILLER	AUS	Honda	14 laps
DNF	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Honda	14 laps
DNF	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Honda	21 laps
DNF	Scott REDDING	GBR	Honda	21 laps
DNF	Mike DI MEGLIO	FRA	Ducati	25 laps
DNF	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Suzuki	26 laps
DNF	Stefan BRADL	GER	Yamaha Forward	27 laps

The victory now gives Yamaha a one-two at the top of the driver standings, with Lorenzo nipping in front of Dovizioso to join Rossi at the top, as Crash.net revealed:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Nation	Points
1	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	ITA	102
2	Jorge LORENZO	Yamaha	SPA	87
3	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati	ITA	83
4	Marc MARQUEZ	Honda	SPA	69
5	Andrea IANNONE	Ducati	ITA	61
6	Cal CRUTCHLOW	Honda	GBR	47
7	Bradley SMITH	Yamaha	GBR	46
8	Pol ESPARGARO	Yamaha	SPA	35
9	Aleix ESPARGARO	Suzuki	SPA	31
10	Maverick VIÑALES	Suzuki	SPA	27
11	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	ITA	25
12	Yonny HERNANDEZ	Ducati	COL	20
13	Scott REDDING	Honda	GBR	13
14	Hector BARBERA	Ducati	SPA	13
15	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	SPA	10
16	Nicky HAYDEN	Honda	USA	8
17	Loris BAZ	Yamaha Forward	FRA	6
18	Jack MILLER	Honda	AUS	6
19	Hiroshi AOYAMA	Honda	JPN	5
20	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Aprilia	SPA	3
21	Eugene LAVERTY	Honda	IRL	2
22	Stefan BRADL	Yamaha Forward	GER	1

Speaking after the race, Lorenzo said his quick opening was the catalyst behind his brilliance, despite the fact that Rossi wasn't giving him a moment's peace, via BBC Sport:

"I had a very good start. I was able overtake Dovizioso on the first corner on the outside to stay in the lead. I then saw Valentino in second place—he really was very quick so I had to push at the maximum knowing that the front tyre was close."

Marquez, meanwhile, is now 33 points back of Rossi and needs something special to get his season back on track. He’s not riding with the authority that made him world champion last season and needs a big performance at the Italian Grand Prix next time around.

Miguel Angel Morenatti/Associated Press

For the Yamaha stars, though, the order of the day is more of the same, as the way they’re brushing talented riders aside is fantastic to see.

The two former world champions could well pull away from the pack and engage in a two-horse race for 2015’s crown—and based on Sunday’s grand prix, that much is an inevitability.