Rins Finishes 12th in Chaotic Le Mans Race, Quartararo's French GP Hopes End in NC Score

Mixed conditions at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit right before the MotoGP Race caused mayhem at the Michelin Grand Prix de France. With conditions uncertain, various riders came in multiple times to switch between their dry and wet bikes. Álex Rins emerged from the chaos securing 12th place. Fabio Quartararo was competitive and battling at the front until a fall in Turn 14 on Lap 4 put an end to his aspirations for his home GP race.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team were keeping a close eye on the skies leading up to the Michelin Grand Prix de France MotoGP Race on Sunday. Álex Rins showed his experience and remained calm during a very manic Le Mans outing. Despite coming in to change bikes twice, he still finished in 12th place. Fabio Quartararo was giving his all in the tricky conditions, but a luckless crash in Turn 14 at the end of lap 4 ended his home race prematurely.

Rain started to fall about 10 minutes before the start, and pole man Quartararo found out just how treacherous the conditions were when he had a moment on the warm-up lap. All riders decided to come back to their garages, causing a red flag due to the excessive number of riders having to start from pit lane. Pit lane reopened at 14:08 local time (GMT+2), followed by a quick starting procedure and the Race, shortened to 26 laps.

However, there was more drama in store. Following the sighting lap, Quartararo was among several rivals deciding to swap their wet bike for their dry bike. They could start from their normal grid position but were handed a double long-lap penalty.

Rins started from P14 and avoided the chaos in the first sector but fell back to 16th on the first lap and decided to come in to swap to slicks after lap 2. He rejoined the race in P20, but didn't make up much ground. After entering the pits once again at end of lap 4, he rejoined in P19. Multiple crashes and riders swapping back to wets had Rins circulating in 14th place by lap 8. It became a lonely ride for the Spaniard, with large gaps to the riders in front and behind. With Miguel Oliveira crashing out on lap 19 and Alex Marquez on lap 23, the number-42 rider crossed the finish line in 12th place, 1'35.357s from first.

Quartararo had a good start from pole. Though Marc Marqez got the holeshot, the Yamaha man was quick to overtake him and then created a gap of over 1s to the rest of the field before completing his first long-lap penalty on lap 3. He was temporarily in sixth place, but soon overtook Brad Binder. As Alex Marquez, Fermin Aldeguer, and Maverick Viñales completed a long-lap, Quartararo was back in second place, right behind Marc Marquez. He was pushing hard until drama struck: coming out of the last corner on lap 4, he took a fall. He was unhurt but disappointed to end his home race in this manner.

Today's results see Quartararo in 7th place in the overall standings with 56 points. Rins is in 16th position with 23 points. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP hold 4th place in the team championship with 79 points, and Yamaha are now in 4th position in the constructor championship with 72 points.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP will be back in action on Tuesday and Wednesday for a private test at the Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli. After that, they will resume the racing action in two weeks' time at the Grand Prix of the United Kingdom which will be held at the Silverstone Circuit from 23-25 May.