Valentino Rossi, Michael Schumacher and Stephane Peterhansel together sharing tarmac here in Le Mans. Fair enough, it was left to Valentino to wrestle his machinery on the track but the titles on show were pretty spectacular.

From the sound of the campsites last night, the tens of thousands of fans already gathered here in Le Mans sure are. The Monster Energy Grand Prix de France is primed for its showdown as round four of the MotoGP World Championship clicks into gear with FP3 and Qualifying all set to go down at the Bugatti Circuit later today.

Final Practice and Qualifying for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France was another examination for how to manage pretty changeable conditions, but credit to Dovi, Cal, Valentino and Ben in MotoGP as they faced off some pretty unwelcome weather to put together qualifying runs that leave them looking to the front of the pack later today in Le Mans.

The dream of most riders is to win their home grand prix. The contingent of British World Superbike and World Supersport riders have two chances, Donington Park and Silverstone. British weather is notoriously fickle, regardless of the time of the year, but this year that wasn’t the case.

Mercedes AMG Petronas drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher put in solid performances to dial their Silver Arrows into points scoring grid slots of 6th and 8th, all while juggling tricky setup and tyre problems.