The Le Mans race had a lot of showers, unlike the average Frenchman. However, when the rain fell, the French marshals managed to dig into their DNA and find the code for waving white flags. How did the riders cope? We bring you the rider ratings to help you figure this out.
Top ten riders rated out of ten:
Jack Miller – 10 out of 10
An outstanding victory in conditions that Jackass found as difficult as reciting the alphabet past the letter F. The Ducati team’s hearts were in their mouths when the Aussie was convicted of speeding in the pitlane and ordered to complete 2 long lap penalties. They just didn’t think he could count that high. When he successfully did so, they immediately rewarded Jack by adding a second year to his Ducati contract, now they knew that he understood what that means. Jack can now celebrate in the traditional way for Australian cattle farmers: buying a dual-cab ute with 12 inch lift kit and snorkel, a 144 can pallet of warm Castlemaine XXXX, and a 100-pack of sleeveless T-shirts.
Johann Zarco – 9 out of 10
The moody Frenchman returned to form with a brilliant 2nd place, forcing Jackass to up his pace in the late stages of the race.
Fabio Quartararararo – 8 out of 10
Penalized for arriving in Maverick’s garage for the bike swap and having to run all the way over to his own bike. The top Yamaha rider by far, he made it 2 moody Frenchmen on the podium in France, when usually French riders can be trusted to crash out of their home race. Just days after having arm pump surgery, too.
Frankie Bananas – 7 out of 10
Also hit with a penalty for pit lane speeding, but recovered well to make it 3 Ducatis in the top 5. Picking up points like a real title contender.
Danilo Petrucci – 9 out of 10
Excellent race from everyone’s favourite loveable galoot, equalling KTM’s best finish of the year. The humongous Italian is always quick in the wet, partly due to skill and partly because his enormous weight squishes the tyre’s contact patch from the size of a credit card to the size of a phone book.
Alex Marquez – 8 out of 10
Just when you think he’s on his way back to Moto2, the less-talented Marquez brother comes out with a great performance to finish as the leading Honda.
Taka Nakagami – 7 out of 10
Running as high as 3rd at times, it was a bit of a roller coaster ride, but he did well to stay on the bike.
Pol Asparagus – 6 out of 10
Beaten by satellite Honda riders again.
Iker Lecuona – 8 out of 10
The KTM’s hatred of the 2021 Michelin tyres has made this year a real baptism of fire for the rookie, but he did very well here. Incredibly, despite falling off on his out lap after changing bikes, he climbed back on and overtook both Rossi and Maverick on the last lap. Soundly beat both factory KTM bikes too.
Maverick Vinales – 6 out of 10
Beaten like egg whites into a meringue by his team-mate. Not a great showing from the random, moody Spaniard, who is notorious for not-great showings.
Selected other riders:
Valentino Rossi – 5 out of 10
A few flashes of the old brilliance, but the overall result was still mediocre as he ended up in 11th place.
Frankie Morbidelli – 4 out of 10
The achingly cool young Brazilian-Italian came crashing down to earth, literally. Bravely staggered back onto the bike to finish 16th and last, 4 laps down, when most riders would’ve stormed off in a huff.
Marc Marquez – 8 out of 10
#93 may consider leaving the Marquez brothers and joining the Marx brothers after this display of slapstick comedy. Insanely fast in the wet before being flipped over the high side. Jumped back on and started going insanely fast again only to get tipped off the lowside, then left the bike in the gravel trap and stormed off in a huff. Extra points for entertainment.
Aleix Asparagus – 6 out of 10
Was going pretty well before his Aprilia conked out. Celebrated by having arm pump surgery.
Lorenzo Savadori – 0.4 out of 1.0
Was going pretty slowly before his Aprilia conked out.
Joan Mir – 6 out of 10
Gets extra marks for hilariously arriving in the pitlane for a bike swap on foot while his bike was still lying in a gravel trap.