The legendary Bugatti circuit at Le Mans, which hosted the thousandth race in MotoGP history, shattered the attendance record for a speed motorcycle Grand Prix with 278,805 spectators during the weekend, announced the organizers of the French stage of the world championship on Sunday.
The previous record was 248,434 spectators at the Czech Grand Prix in Brno in 2015.
In addition, nearly 117,000 people attended the various races on Sunday, a new record for a France motorcycle Grand Prix, with, icing on the cake, a Frenchman on the podium with Johann Zarco's third place in MotoGP.
The event, a real popular success for many years, was voted best race of the 2022 season.
Before the start of the MotoGP Grand Prix, the promoter of the event, Claude Michy, received a trophy from Carmelo Ezpeleta, the boss of Dorna, organizer of the championship.
«
We are not chasing the record, but we are making our way. The results of the weekend are very good. This show corresponds to a need. We are lucky to have a specific product with a lot of animations and after everything was gathered, the weather, the availability of the drivers, etc ...", explained to AFP the former president of Clermont Foot.
«
The atmosphere was fantastic throughout the weekend so we knew the crowds would be high. But breaking the all-time record and surpassing a quarter of a million spectators is something truly incredible. Every year, Le Mans is really one of the greatest moments of the season so I thank Claude Michy for the incredible event he organizes here. Thank you, finally, to the fans, who made this 1,000th Grand Prix of historical history possible," said Carmelo Ezpeleta.