Highside

Jorge Lorenzo took a comfortable victory in the French Grand Prix, after a close battle with Valentino Rossi in the first half of the race.  Rossi came home in second place, riding comfortably and well after Lorenzo passed him at the front.  For most of the race, it looked as if Dani Pedrosa would come home in third, but after an intense and brutal challenge from Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden, Pedrosa found himself relegated to fifth at the end.  Dovizioso would complete the podium, while Nicky Hayden made an amazing comeback in the final stages of the race to take fourth.

Despite the brilliant battles that went into the podium, the big story out of Le Mans was Casey Stoner, who crashed out of the race for the second time in three rounds.  The front end issues that have been plaguing the Australian all season seem to still be with him, as his bike lowsided out from under him while riding in fourth place.  Ben Spies and Loris Capirossi also failed to complete the race, the American rookie crashing out of the race, while the Italian veteran Capirossi bent his handlebar going through the Dunlop chicane and had to retire.

One of the best performances of the race came from Marco Melandri.  Starting from 11th place on the grid, Melandri fought his way into 6th place, dominating the satellite riders and regaining some of the confidence that the former MotoGP winner desperately needs.  A strong home ride from Frenchman Randy de Puniet to finish in 7th, but a disappointing performance from the Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards, who historically performed very well at Le Mans.  Edwards would finish in 12th, with only Mika Kallio finishing behind him.