The Marc VDS Racing Team’s Livio Loi secured his and the team’s first win of the season, with victory in today’s French Moto3 Championship race at Le Mans.

Severe weather disrupted proceedings at Le Mans all weekend, with yesterday’s qualifying sessions cancelled due to snow at the circuit. Grid positions for today’s Moto3 race were decided on times from the second free practice session, which meant that Loi started from pole position having topped the timesheet on Friday.

The 15-year-old Belgian got away well from the front of the grid, leading the race for nine laps before being pushed back to second place by Jules Danilo. On the final lap Loi retook the lead, which he then held to the chequered flag.

It was something of a one-two for the Marc VDS Racing Team, as Danilo was racing out of the team’s pit box, as he will also do when he races the French Grand Prix as a wild card in May.

Loi was contesting the race in France as a wild card, to learn the track ahead of the French Grand Prix in May and, as such, does not qualify for championship points. The Belgian youngster will now head to Qatar, to watch his Marc VDS teammates in action at the opening round of the Moto2 World Championship, before flying to Spain for the official CEV test and the first race of the CEV championship at the Circuit de Catalunya outside Barcelona.

Livio Loi #11: 1st Position
“It was a good race from the beginning, but I had some problems with the exhaust grounding on right hand turns, which kept lifting the back of the bike. It meant I wasn’t able to push as hard as I wanted to, leaving me around two seconds off the lap time I know I can do here and allowing Jules to close and then pass me for the lead. I didn’t want to take any big risks, so I sat behind him until the last lap before putting in a pass to take the win. It’s a good start to the season, both for me and the team, but now we must focus on the next race in Barcelona.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“Congratulations to Livio on taking the Marc VDS Racing Team’s first win of the 2013 season, in what were extremely difficult conditions. We sent him to Le Mans to learn the track, which proved difficult with all of Saturday’s sessions being cancelled due to snow, but it seems just two practice and one warm up sessions were enough for Livio. It’s a great way for him and the team to start the season and I hope he can be as competitive in two weeks time at Catalunya. Well done on a great job today Livio.”

Photograph courtesy of www.jeromevervier.be