Nine-times World champion Valentino Rossi will target an 80th career MotoGP win on Sunday at the French Grand Prix, where he also hopes to break his duck for the season.
The Italian Yamaha star is fourth in the World championship, 18 points behind surprise leader Marc Marquez on a Honda.
Rossi is in the middle of an alarming winning drought with his 79th and last triumph coming in Malaysia in October 2010 before he switched to his unsuccessful two-year spell at Ducati.
But his career statistics are still beyond the reach of his title rivals.
Dani Pedrosa, the Spanish Honda rider who won in Jerez last time out, is next on the list of all-time winners with 23.
Rossi, who has won three times at Le Mans in the elite class, said: “Le Mans is a good track for me, also because in the last two years I was able to arrive on the podium in the dry and also in wet conditions.
“We hope to do the same and also better with Yamaha because this is a good track for the bike. In Le Mans the weather will be very important, because usually the weather is quite bad. It can be cold and wet so we will have to try to understand the weather and the conditions of the track.”
Rossi was second at Le Mans in 2012 and third the year before - performances which represented his best rides during his ill-fated stay at Ducati.
IN LORENZO’S SHADOW
This year, he has been in the shadow of World champion team mate Jorge Lorenzo who captured the season-opener in Qatar and is third in the championship.
Lorenzo is a three-times winner at Le Mans, including in 2012 when victory was achieved in torrential rain.
Marquez, the 20-year-old Spaniard who only graduated to MotoGP from Moto2 this season, admitted Friday practice would be key to his chances.
Marquez, the winner in Texas last month, said: “We go to Le Mans and again we arrive there starting from zero, as I haven't done any tests there. I hope it doesn't rain so we can prepare the bike on a dry track; this is very important in order to find the right set-up.”
Pedrosa, meanwhile, has tasted victory at the famous French circuit, but only in the 125cc and 250cc classes. - AFP