Daniel Pedrosa stated before arriving in France that Le Mans was a circuit he enjoyed riding at, and today he demonstrated that with a majestic victory – his third straight win at the track.

Dani rode an intelligent race, preserving his tyres and a little fuel for an exciting climax in which he overcame local hero Randy De Puniet on the final lap.

As a result, Pedrosa, who started from pole, regained the lead in the 250 class and now has a four point advantage over Italian Andrea Dovizioso who finished third today. Hiroshi Aoyama lost ground at the start, but found a good rhythm and lapped with Hector Barbera at the head of the second group of riders. Hiro finished sixth and moves into seventh place in the standings with 36 points, level with De Puniet.

DANI PEDROSA (1st): “Second was not enough for me today, I wanted to get back to winning and I concentrated and worked very hard with the team to achieve that. It was a fantastic race and very exciting at the end when the tyres were crucial. I knew that right from the start and wanted to save them, I rode a controlled race and at the end increased my pace and gave everything I had. It was fantastic, maybe one of my best 250 races.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA (6th): “I did not make a good start today. I dropped back and was in a big group of riders, but increased my pace lap by lap until I was at the front of the second group of riders, just behind Barbera. I am a little disappointed because after the good result in China I came here with a lot of desire and hoped to be closer to the podium, like I was last year.”

FRENCH GP

1. D. Pedrosa (Esp/Hon) 42’55”152
2. R. De Puniet (Fra/Apri) a 0”251
3. A. Dovizioso (Ita/Hon) a 1”554
4. C. Stoner (Aus/Apri) a 4”230
5. J. Lorenzo (Esp/Hon) a 6”027
6. H. Aoyama (Jap/Hon) a 23”969
7. H. Barberá (Esp/Hon) a 30”667

250 CC. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Dani Pedrosa 73 puntos
2. Andrea Dovizioso 69 puntos
3. CaseyStoner 63 puntos
4. Alex De Angelis 40 puntos
5. Sebastián Porto 38 puntos
6. Randy De Puniet 36 puntos
7. Hiroshi Aoyama 36 puntos