2023-04-18 16:35:14
From May 12 to 14, the 2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix awaits its public in droves. Regulars of the Le Mans meeting will find the program to which they are attached, but the promoter also promises surprises to celebrate an anniversary edition.
The organizers of the Grand Prix de France MotoGP held their traditional press conference in Paris on Tuesday. Less than a month from the event, things are becoming clearer for this 2023 edition, which the promoter can already foresee as a popular success.
This edition will be one of striking figures since it will be the 30th Grand Prix de France organized by Claude Michy and PHA, and the 1000th Grand Prix since the creation of the World Championship in 1949. So many reasons to mark the occasion with a weekend that the promoter hopes will be even more successful than in recent years, he who is however used to familiarity with the summits with his attendance figures.
The biggest motorsport event in France, the French GP is also one of the greatest achievements of the MotoGP season : in 2022, it was the busiest in the championship on Sunday, with 110,003 spectators gathered on the Bugatti circuit, and very close to the German GP in terms of total attendance over the weekend with 225,000 paying entries. Two digits that were records for the French event and which will serve as a reference this year when the 16 stands are already full.
Named best Grand Prix of the 2022 season by the IRTA, the association of teams, the Grand Prix de France knew, in the eyes of Sébastien Poirier, president of the FFM, “putting the public at the heart of its system” and it intends to confirm its reference status in this sense. Counting once more this year on its “ambassadors” what are Fabio Quartararo et Johann Zarco with the MotoGP public, Claude Michy appears confident before this first French Grand Prix enriched with the sprint race.
In addition to the three classic categories of MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3, this round will also coincide with the start of the MotoE season, which is entering a new era with motorcycles designed by Ducati. The Red Bull Rookies Cup will also return to Le Mans as a support event.
Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco alongside Claude Michy, promoter of the French Grand Prix MotoGP
Photo by: Lukasz Swidererk
Work carried out at Le Mans this year will allow “to improve the spectator experience”, promises Pierre Fillon, president of the ACO. The north and south entrances have been given a makeover, a new flow of spectators will be introduced and the Dunlop area has also been refurbished.
The first animations announced
Claude Michy is impatient before this anniversary edition and he promises “surprises”but maliciously keeping it a secret for now. “For many years we have already been doing the [visites de la] pitlane which allow the public to take selfies and meet the pilots”, he recalls. “There is also the Fan Zone, the concerts, the mechanical show, with always a few surprises on new things. And then, we have one or two nice surprises for the 1000th, but that, we keep it for the spectators .”
Despite the expected surprises and novelties that have already been brought the new weekend program, the promoter promises that the Grand Prix de France does not intend to deviate from what has made it so successful. The public will therefore find the appointments to which it is attached.
From Thursday 11 May, a visit to the pit lane will be permitted from 5 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., accessible to spectators with a three-day ticket. On Friday, following the first day of testing, the public will meet the drivers in the Fan Zone, from 4:45 p.m. to 7 p.m. This highly anticipated meeting is also maintained for Saturday, despite the sprint race; it is then scheduled from 5:05 p.m. to 6:20 p.m.
On Saturday evening May 13, the festivities will go up a notch with the traditional mechanical show. The announced program is very attractive since it will be possible to applaud in particular Tom Pagès, freestyle star, or Luc Ackermann, winner of the X-Games in 2021, alongside other freestylers and stunters. For the first time, a slackline demonstration will also be organized with extreme tightrope walkers who will take to the skies… passing from one grandstand to another, above the pit straight!
On Sunday morning, at 10 a.m., the riders will perform the parade that has become essential at 10 a.m., just following the end of the MotoGP warm-up and before the start of the races. Concerts will also be given on Friday and Saturday evening, at the Fan Zone. And a major exhibition tracing the career of Giacomo Agostini will be offered from Thursday to Sunday at Garden n°1.
The French MotoGP Grand Prix will be broadcast on Canal+ and also broadcast unencrypted on C8. The broadcaster is also preparing special events, with in particular a bodycam that Johann Zarco’s physical trainer will wear throughout the weekend… To be continued!
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