---
title: "Vinales wins at Le Mans as Rossi crashes out"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/05/21/vinales-wins-le-mans-rossi-crashes/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Alex Murray"
section: "MotoGP News"
published: "2017-05-21T13:16:20Z"
modified: "2017-05-21T13:16:20Z"
---

# Vinales wins at Le Mans as Rossi crashes out

Maverick Vinales made a big championship statement by taking the win at Le Mans as rivals failed to finish.

Thanks to falls for both Marc Marquez and teammate Valentino Rossi, Vinales takes the championship lead, and also puts himself in the driving seat.

The race began at Le Mans with a great start for Johann Zarco. The Frenchman, in front of his home crowd, took the hole shot and attempted to gap the field.

However, Vinales was not going to let the double Moto2 world champion get away, and was able to keep pace with the Frenchman. Valentino Rossi was not far behind them, with Marc Marquez just keeping up with the leading group.

Vinales was eventually able to get past Zarco and attempted to get away from the French rider. However, Valentino Rossi saw this and was able to take Zarco and fight with Vinales for the lead.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/05/686011736.jpg)

Marc Marquez crashed out of the French GP at turn three, a place where the Spaniard has frequently crashed all weekend. This is yet another DNF for the three-time world champion, something that will do his championship chances no good at all.

With Rossi and Vinales battling it out, it looked to be Rossi who would take the win after attempting a move on Vinales. However, after making a mistake on the final lap, Rossi ended up in second. Then going into turn 11, Rossi went in way too hot and slid out of the race. This handed Vinales the win, and gifted Dani Pedrosa another podium finish, bumping him up to second in the standings.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/05/686001092.jpg)

It would also hand Johann Zarco a debut MotoGP podium at his home race, giving the French fans something to cheer about.

Andrea Dovizioso would be the best of the rest in fourth place, followed by Cal Crutchlow in fifth and teammate Jorge Lorenzo in sixth. Jonas Folger would come home seventh, with the battered and bruised Jack Miller finishing in eighth place.

Loris Baz got a decent ninth-placed finish at his home GP, with Andrea Iannone finishing in tenth. Tito Rabat was eleventh with Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith finishing in twelfth and thirteenth place respectively. Sam Lowes and Sylvain Guintoli were the final finishers in 14th and 15th place.

The result sees Vinales return to the top of the standings, which may be important going into the next round in Mugello. The stands will be full of yellow in support for his teammate Valentino Rossi, as the Italian attempts to win at the circuit for the first time since 2008.