French MotoGP, Le MansSaturday 14 May: Qualifying: MotoGP 1150-1505, Red Button/online.
Sunday 15 May: Racing: 125cc and Moto2 race: 0950-1205, Red Button/online.
MotoGP live: 1230-1400, BBC Two/online
MotoGP Extra: 1400-1430, BBC Red Button/online
Jorge Lorenzo's very public squabble with Marco Simoncelli in the press room at Estoril showed there is some real needle in MotoGP this season and now we want to see it on the track.
Their bust-up, which followed Casey Stoner's sarcastic remarks to Valentino Rossi at Jerez, underlined that there are some intense rivalries this season, which makes life much more interesting for those of us who follow the sport.
As we come to the end of the 800cc era, the top bikes are all very similar, so the top riders are all evenly matched and the psychological battle is becoming much more important.
I said at the start of the season that the world title would be decided by which out of Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Lorenzo finishes the most races - and they are all a bit worried about the prospect of an aggressive rider like Simoncelli coming through and spoiling the party.
You can stop someone from crashing but you cannot give them talent and speed, you have to be born with that - and Simoncelli has shown he has it by his success at lower levels of the sport.
A lot of things people are saying about him are the same things which were said about Lorenzo three years ago, when he was fast but often flying through the air and crashing.
The younger riders are hungry and they are not after an easy time - they are willing to learn the hard way by being aggressive. As a result, they are riling the big names and getting in among them.
Simoncelli is a wild youngster who wants to achieve as much success as he can for his team and I'm sure he will get in a few people's way this season.
It was very interesting to see Pedrosa win last time out in Portugal. There has never been any question over his speed, but his physical frailty was an issue and that now seems to have gone after surgery to remove a plate in his shoulder.
The win will have been a huge relief for him because after the season opener in Qatar, he was wondering if his career might be over because of numbness in his arm.
Now he is in the hunt, lying second in the riders' standings just four points behind Lorenzo, but he has to stay fit - he is very slight and a tumble can cause him more serious damage thant it would some of the bulkier riders.
We are desperately hoping for nice, sunny weather in France this weekend and if we get it, there should be a really good three-way battle at the front.
It will be between the usual suspects, but Simoncelli, Ben Spies and Valentino Rossi could be spoilers in the park.
Rossi promised he would get better as the season goes on and he says Ducati have made some tweaks to his bike, but I've heard he can't do more than about 10 push-ups because of his shoulder.
Considering it's over a year ago since the multiple world champion was injured, that's extraordinary.
By Steve Parrish
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/default.stm
Circuit infoLength: 4.180 m. / 2,597 miles
Width: 13m
Left corners: 4
Right corners: 9
Longest straight: 674 m. / 0,419 miles
Constructed: 1965
Modified: 2008
Built in 1965 around the existing 24-Hour track, the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit lies 5km south of the city of Le Mans and 200km south-west of Paris. The venue has hosted Grand Prix since the late sixties but a serious accident to Spanish rider Alberto Puig in 1995 saw it struck off the calendar until 2000 whilst stringent safety improvements were carried out.
Le Mans is a tight track dominated by first gear corners that place the emphasis on late braking and hard acceleration, whilst rear end traction is also a key area. With the capacity to comfortably accommodate up to 100,000 spectators, the Bugatti circuit also plays host to the 24 hour truck race, the FIA GP2 Championship, French Touring Car and GT race.
http://www.motogp.com/en/calendar+circuits
