Johann Zarco had a brilliant debut into this season. Next up is the sold-out fifth race of the 2018 World Championship at Le Mans scheduled for May 18-20.
The French circuit was built in 1965 around the 24 Hour of Le Mans track, with which it shares a third of the track. Named for Ettore Bugatti, the circuit hosted the 500cc class of the World Championship for the first time in 1969, but it has been a permanent site of the French GP only since 2000.
The track is 4,2 km long and in October 2016 it was completely repaved for the first time in 12 years. The new pavement guarantee better grip, which would enable the bikes to discharge more braking torque than in previous years.
The straightaway at the arrival is only 674 meters long but since there are lots of other straightaways, the riders can easily cool down their Brembo carbon discs. To ward off the opposite risk, many of the riders will probably adopt brake discs with a low braking surface.