The prestigious Le Mans circuit will host round five of the championship, where the DRIVE M7 SIC Racing Team will be looking to make their mark and reassert their strength within the Moto3 field.
Located around 200km from Paris, the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit is a unique track combining many first gear corners with fast straights. Its stop-and-go characteristics make late braking and hard acceleration performance crucial for a good set up.
Finishing tenth and eleventh in last year’s French Grand Prix, Jakub Kornfeil and Zulfahmi Khairuddin have both shown good form at Le Mans in the past. Getting stronger every race, Czech rider Jakub Kornfeil will be looking to continue his progress with a top five finish, whilst teammate Zulfahmi Khairuddin will be aiming to score his first points of the season.
Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager
“Le Mans is a difficult track and quite complex even though it’s not that long; it is a combination of hard braking points and acceleration. It’s imperative that we have the bikes set up perfectly so that we can gain maximum speed on the two straights.
What happened to Jakub in Jerez was very disappointing but unfortunate and Fahmi was just not competitive enough, so we are yet to show our true strength as a team. I really hope that we can get the results we are aiming for in Le Mans. We are gaining more knowledge of the KTM and the Moto3 class and this is helping us to get up to speed a lot quicker and start the weekend stronger, so now we must carry this through to the race. Our riders have the ability and our team has the experience, so it’s time to show it.”
#63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin
“Le Mans is one of my favourite circuits on the GP calendar. I always feel good when I ride there and I have done well there in the past. Last year I qualified in ninth, which was one of my best grid positions that season.
The track has a fast first corner, then a lot of hard braking points, so I think the KTM can be quite strong in Le Mans. For us our target is of course to be competitive from the start but to do so we must fix the problem that we had in Jerez. Since Jerez I have been preparing myself both physically and mentally for this next GP. Mental training I believe is one of the most important things that I must focus on right now. It has been a hard start to the season but I know we are capable of achieving more and I will do my best to show this in Le Mans.”
#84 Jakub Kornfeil
“For Le Mans I think we can be quite strong. We are continuing to make progress every GP which is very good and since Texas we have made a big step forward. This is important for the team and also as a rider because to see improvement is very good for mental strength. Right now I am feeling focussed and positive and this is how I must stay so that step by step we can continue to improve the bike. We have shown that we can be strong from the beginning and in Jerez we were finally able to better our qualifying. Had I not had to retire from the race I believe we would have achieved our best result so far. We still need to improve in the race but I believe we can do this in Le Mans. It will be already the fifth race of the year and this is often a turning point for many riders; I think this is where we will see some changes. It’s not going to be an easy race and we will need to work hard but I think it will be a great GP and I’m looking forward to seeing my team again and getting to work.”
