Jorge Lorenzo has dominated a wet French MotoGP at Le Mans, while Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner stole the headlines with a fascinating dice for second place.
Yamaha’s Lorenzo won the 28 lap race by nearly 10 seconds, cruising to a big win and taking the championship lead.
Rossi scored second place, executing a masterful pass on Stoner on the last lap after an intense battle between the rivals in the closing stages of the race.
The Italian passed Stoner on three occasions, finally locking up the runner-up place at the second turn on the final tour.
The result is Rossi’s best finish on a Ducati.
Pole-sitter Dani Pedrosa took fourth place ahead of Stefan Bradt and Nicky Hayden.
Andrea Dovizioso crashed with less than 10 laps remaining, recovering to take seventh with Cal Crutchlow, Hector Barbera and Alvaro Bautista rounding out the top 10.
Australian class returnee Chris Vermeulen finished 17th.
Local rider Randy de Puniet crashed on the front straight, moments after the race started – a disappointing way to end his home event.
Results, Le Mans
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
| 1 | 25 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 141.6 | 49’39.743 |
| 2 | 20 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 141.1 | +9.905 |
| 3 | 16 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 141.0 | +11.298 |
| 4 | 13 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 140.2 | +29.361 |
| 5 | 11 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 140.0 | +32.477 |
| 6 | 10 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 140.0 | +32.842 |
| 7 | 9 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 138.8 | +59.759 |
| 8 | 8 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 138.5 | +1’05.152 |
| 9 | 7 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 138.4 | +1’07.846 |
| 10 | 6 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 138.2 | +1’13.193 |
| 11 | 5 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 137.6 | +1’26.663 |
| 12 | 4 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 137.5 | +1’27.633 |
| 13 | 3 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 135.8 | 1 Lap |
| 14 | 2 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 135.4 | 1 Lap |
| 15 | 1 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 135.0 | 1 Lap |
| 16 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 133.1 | 1 Lap | |
| 17 | 7 | Chris VERMEULEN | AUS | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 131.3 | 2 Laps | |
| 18 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 126.8 | 2 Laps | |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 137.3 | 4 Laps | ||
| 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 130.5 | 6 Laps | ||
| 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 133.1 | 17 Laps | ||
