Le Mans is a name that conjures images of endurance racing, of blindingly fast straights through the countryside, a vast sprawling track combining everything that a road circuit can offer. Well, the Le Mans MotoGP circuit is slightly less blessed with history and character, though it's certainly had its fair share of drama and pathos. It's the circuit where last year Chris Vermeulen took Suzuki's first ever MotoGP win, and where the year before Valentino Rossi's Yamaha died while he was a country mile in the lead, denying him the championship. It's a challenging circuit, still with a very fast straight and some seriously intimidating corners as well as some nice gentle elevation changes to keep things interesting. Oh, and the weather is a little unpredictable as well.

Practice was dominated by the championship leader Dani Pedrosa, whose riding style and bike seem to suit the circuit very well, though Rossi was plainly keen to repeat the glory of two weeks ago. Colin Edwards, too, found some magic in the Tech3 Yamaha at their home round, making regular forays to the upper reaches of the leaderboard. Jorge Lorenzo, already nursing broken bones in his feet and ankles, had another crash on Friday though he cheerfully proclaimed that he hadn't hurt himself any further. Mind you, he also said that he already hurt everywhere so I guess that didn't mean much. James Toseland on the second Tech3 Yamaha was struggling for setup at a circuit he's never visited before and was down in fifteenth after practice. Casey Stoner and the Ducati appeared to have regained some of their earlier form, the team obviously finding some settings that work pretty well at a circuit

Qualifying saw Toseland find something pretty special, firing himself up to second place, just a few hundredths of a second off pole until eight minutes from the end. Dani Pedrosa managed another cracking qualifier, taking pole yet again while it was left to Colin Edwards to wave the flag for the home team with a brilliant second, ahead of Casey Stoner who closed off the front row. Rossi took fourth from the incredibly gritty Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden. Astonishingly, Toseland's previously second place time dropped him into seventh, heading the third row, next to Vermeulen and John Hopkins. With a pair of ex superbike riders and a pair of ex team-mates, that row would be interesting to listen to the inside helmet thoughts...

So lights out and it was no surprise to see the leading trio on the grid make an immediate break, Edwards hooking on behind Pedrosa who was climbing all over the Ducati of Stoner. No lack of speed from any of the bikes, but none were fast enough to escape either from each other or the rest of the pack. And leading that chasing pack was Nicky Hayden, with Rossi pressing hard and Vermeulen just ahead of Toseland who has made a fantastic start and cut through to fifth before having a bit of a moment and dropping down a couple of places. Indeed, the Englishman would drop a couple more places to ninth before getting back into his stride. Unfortunately, early in the third lap, while dicing with Dovizioso the Spaniard ran wide leaving Toseland an opportunity to dive down the inside. Not being a man to turn such an opportunity down, the Brit went for the gap. Sadly Dovizioso wrestled the Honda back on line, unable to see Toseland on his inside, and took the Brit's front wheel away from him. Toseland tumbled off and out of the race, unhurt but not going to pick up any points this time.

Up at the front, something special was happening. Valentino Rossi had turned the wick up and was treating us to a true masterclass as he scythed past Hayden, Edwards and Pedrosa in fairly short order. Ultra clean, mind you - nobody could possibly complain in any way. And a little later as he made a move on Stoner the young Australian could easily have run Rossi off the edge of the track but instead made sure that, although he wasn't about to surrender the position or the line, he wasn't about to put anyone in danger either. He may not be the most interesting rider to watch or listen to, but there's no doubting Stoner's racecraft or sheer class. Regardless, though, Rossi wasn't to be denied and on lap eight he took the lead. Astonishingly he then extended that lead by over a second in a single lap. That just doesn't happen in a class where equipment and riders are so well matched. Three laps later Pedrosa pulled off an amazing overtake, riding around the outside of the Ducati to take second. But unable to even make a dent in Rossi's astonishing performance.

But while we were looking at a remarkable performance up at the front, midfield something perhaps even more astonishing was happening. Jorge Lorenzo can't actually walk at the moment. He's had surgery on one of his arms, has a broken foot and a broken ankle. He is, in short, a mess. In a sport where absolute peak fitness is essential, this battered wreck of a man who had to be lifted onto his bike in the pitlane and who struggled to hold it upright on the line was carving his way up through the field as though nothing was wrong at all. Sure, it was a bit of a slow start but from eleventh at the end of lap two, he was up to sixth on lap eight. It took him a few more laps to catch and pass Vermeulen to take fifth, and another five to get past Colin Edwards into fourth. That alone was pretty impressive. But it got better.

Around lap twenty several things happened. First of all, white flags had started being waved around the track a little earlier. No, the marshals weren't surrendering. White flags mean that Race Control have accepted that it is raining and the riders are free to come into the pits and collect their spare bike provided it is shod with different tyres - intermediates at least. It was still warm and any water on the track looked to be clearing pretty quickly. With just eight laps to go it would need a downpour to really make it worth the time to come in and swap. But it was still greasy in places, as Dani Pedrosa found out when he had a big moment. Nothing too dramatic except that it allowed Jorge Lorenzo to slip past into second place. Yes, second place for a man who can't walk. The other big development was at the beginning of lap twenty. Stoner had been putting up a spirited resistance to the pressures of both Lorenzo and Edwards when, at the end of the straight the Ducati slowed abruptly enough that he nearly got rammed by Edwards. Then it got worse as the Australian was reduced to paddling the bike with his feet for the last part of the lap, though he did at least get into the pits and was able to leave again on his spare bike, on wets in last place. Just to add insult to injury, the sun came back out again almost straight away. Stoner's finish outside the points broke a remarkable run of twenty two points scoring finishes with Ducati. And Ducati's woes were compounded with Marco Melandri's misfortune. His bike was misfiring on the warmup lap and stalled when the lights went out. It took him thirty seconds to get started, by which time only a miracle could save the race for him. And that miracle didn't come. He took a gamble on wets when the flags came out and it didn't pay off, the popular and hard working Italian finishing fifteenth and taking the last point.

Up at the front end again, Valentino Rossi had extended such a lead that he could afford to back right off. But of course he didn't until the very end. A totally dominant ride by The Doctor saw Rossi take the win by five seconds - significantly reduced from the ten second cushion he had enjoyed - over Lorenzo with Colin Edwards a second and a half back in third. That's the first ever Yamaha 1-2-3 in MotoGP history and Edwards' best result for the Tech3 team. Pedrosa got it together to come in a distant fourth, while Vermeulen salvaged an excellent fifth place for his best finish of the season so far. Dovizioso also rode a brilliant race, recovering from his collision with Toseland, which had put him well towards the back to finish a strong sixth ahead of a battling Capirossi and Hayden. Randy de Puniet came ninth in his home round while Shinya Nakano rounded off the top ten.

This win makes Rossi equal second in the number of GP wins in total, with ninety. He shares second with Angel Nieto, who celebrated with Rossi by hopping on the Yamaha and giving the Italian a pillion ride back to Parc Ferme. Totally against the rules, of course, but entertaining and typically flamboyant. This win also puts Rossi at the top of a MotoGP championship for the first time since Portugal in 2006. While it's very early in the season and nobody should be discounting anyone, I'd suggest that the bookies would be giving rather shortened odds on Rossi lifting the title again after today. Time, of course, will tell.

It's Mugello in two weeks time. Rossi has never not won a MotoGP race there. Which will make him favourite this time as well, I should think. But there will be plenty of competition and the championship is still wide open. The good news for us is that Toseland has tested there before and at least knows where the track goes so he may be in with a shout. Whatever happens, it's a great circuit full of passion and excitement. we can't wait...

SB

French MotoGP Results

1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha)
4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
5. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki)
6. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda)
7. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki)
8. Nicky Hayden (Honda)
9. Randy de Puniet (Honda)
10. Shinya Nakano (Honda)

MotoGP standings (after five rounds)

1. Valentino Rossi 97
2. Jorge Lorenzo 94
3. Dani Pedrosa 94
4. Casey Stoner 56
5. Colin Edwards 47
6. Loris Capirossi 42
7. Nicky Hayden 37
8. Andrea Dovizioso 36
9. James Toseland 33
10. Shinya Nakano 28