P134
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
I
t ought to be compulsory. Bad
weather, that is. It would take
some serious meteorologi-
cal magic to rival the weather-
stricken French GP. The racing
was wonderfully unpredictable in
all classes, with MotoGP par-
ticularly mental, and the reward
of a second win in a row going
to Jack Miller, the most marvel-
lously mental of riders.
By this measure, climate-
erratic Phillip Island and Sil-
verstone join Le Mans as true
classic circuits, where real-world
conditions add authenticity to a
real-World Championship.
But there is a weakness. Rac-
ing should break records, and
Le Mans achieved that. But not
in lap times, however, nor crowd
attendance (unless you're count-
ing "lowest-ever"). It recorded its
highest-ever number of crashes.
There were 117 recorded,
this was an improvement on the
mere 100 at the same circuit last
year, and better also than the
109 recorded in the bumper year
of 2018.
It's still a long way short of
weather-hit Valencia in 2019
(150) and Misano in 2017, where
teeming rain combined with
dodgy resurfacing to rack up no
less than 140.
Each of those was a one-off.
A high crash toll is normal at Le
Mans.
As numbers on a list and
dubbed "a crash fest" you can
smile at the antics. Especially
at some sterling efforts. At op-
posite ends of the scale, Marc
Marquez and Indonesian Moto3
rookie Andi Farid Izdihar each
had four crashes at Le Mans,
Marquez twice in the race alone.
Alex Rins also twice in the race;
Vinales ridiculously fell at some
15 mph while leaving the pits.
Most falls, more than 50, were
in Moto3, giving racing's learn-
ers a valuable lesson–grounding
is the art of slide-don't-roll. And
lots of merry quips about "the
turn-three club."
It's less amusing for the
victims, and rather miraculous
TIRED
AND
EMOTIONAL
TIRES, DRY OR WET, ARE HOMOLOGATED
FOR THE YEAR, AND THE LE MANS CRASH
LIST IS LIVING PROOF THAT IN THIS
RESPECT, ONE SIZE MOST DEFINITELY
DOES NOT FIT ALL.
