Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOGP FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP P72 ROUND 5 / MAY 17-19, 2019 BUGATTI CIRCUIT / LE MANS, FRANCE BY MICHAEL SCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE T he trends were confirmed at Le Mans. One of those is that the weather general- ly plays a big part here—this time rain muddled qualifying, and a cold track complicated race day. Another is that Marc Marquez is currently in a class of his own. What they added up to was a masterful pole position followed by another masterful win. It was his third this year, the 73rd in his career. And a land- mark 300th in the premier class for Honda. It was rather more exciting than his runaway wins in Argentina and Jerez because this time the Rep- sol Honda didn't lead every lap. But it was no less masterful. The rider who got in front, for laps five and six, was not one of his usual title rivals, but Jack Miller. The Pramac Ducati rider, on the same GP19 as the factory squad, was mightily impressive, too. But by the end, his tactics fell marginally short, and he finished a close fourth, with factory teamsters Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci narrowly ahead. But Miller did manage to hold off Valentino Rossi on a day that his more fan- cied Monster Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales compounded his poor qualifying position with a bad start, and then an early end after being knocked off in the melee among the lower orders by Rossi's protégé, Pecco Bagnaia (Pramac Ducati). For Marquez, his second Le Mans win in a row was not as easy as it eventually looked. "Le Mans is always difficult with the tempera- ture. I think this was my first race with a soft front tire," he said (which is not entirely true, ac- cording to Michelin… although his first win on one since 2016). This led to fears that it might overheat, especially if he spent too long close behind Miller, so he quickly got back to the front. His escape was slow at first, by a couple of tenths a lap. This prompted him to risk the tire by pushing hard: his best lap was his 11th, and by the 12th, the gap had stretched to more than a Marc Marquez had some early company in France, but once he nailed a one- second lead, there was no looking back. The Marc Masterclass In a weekend that saw every variation of weather thrown man stood tall at the top—Marc