Preview - French Grand Prix.

Sete Gibernau will be chasing his third consecutive Le Mans victory at the French Grand Prix on Sunday; the Movistar Honda rider knows he must win his first race of the year to prevent Valentino Rossi running away with the title, after winning two of the three opening rounds.

Despite showing race wining speed in all three 2005 events to date, Gibernau slipped to fifth place in the Championship after finishing fourth at the Chinese Grand Prix and is already a massive 37-points adrift of the champion, who won the first MotoGP race at Le Mans three-years ago.

But it's Gibernau's team-mate Marco Melandri who's presenting Rossi with his greatest challenge at present. The former 250cc world champion has finished on the rostrum twice this season and moved into second place, 25-points behind Rossi, after finishing third in China.

Brazilian Alex Barros is the only rider to beat Rossi this season when he was victorious in Portugal, riding the Camel Honda. However, Barros dropped to third in the title chase after a disastrous race in China, finishing 11th after jumping the start.

While these riders battle for the championship all French attention will be focused on former 250cc World Champion Olivier Jacque. He rode the race of his lifetime to finish second in China on the Kawasaki in the appalling conditions.

The result was Kawasaki's best in the premier-class since Mick Grant won the Isle of Man TT race in 1975. Jacque's first podium finish in MotoGP was also the first for any French rider since Regis Laconi at Phillip Island in 1999 and the local hero will receive huge home backing as he aims for a repeat this weekend.

Meanwhile, much was expected of Max Biaggi and Colin Edwards this season following their moves to the factory Repsol Honda and Gauloises Yamaha teams. It has not gone as planned for either to date, but each has battled hard for points and are presently fourth (Biaggi) and sixth (Edwards) in the Championship.

Both will be seeking at least a rostrum finish at the track where Biaggi brought Yamaha a 500cc victory four-years ago, while the Roman's team-mate Nicky Hayden is also having a tough time. The former AMA Superbike Champion is just tenth in his third year in the championship, despite an encouraging winter test programme.

It's also been a disappointing start to the season for the Ducati Marlboro Team of Carlos Checa and Loris Capirossi. Checa crashed in the Chinese rain while Capirossi's hopes disintegrated in the spray. Checa is ninth with Capirossi 12th and they will be hoping the switch to Bridgestone tyres will final pay off soon.

Suzuki led the way in Shanghai for the opening few laps until former world champion Kenny Roberts retired with mechanical problems and John Hopkins went off the track in the spray. Hopkins fought back to finish seventh behind the very impressive Jurgen van den Goorbergh.

The Dutchman was replacing the injured Makoto Tamada at the Konica Minolta Honda team but is not expected to get a chance to repeat his feat this Sunday.

Tamada, who won two grands prix last season, injured his wrist in a practice crash in Portugal, but had an operation in Japan and on Monday was declared fit to start practice on Friday morning at Le Mans. After practice a decision will be made if he's fit enough to race.

Former British Superbike Champion Shane 'Shaky' Byrne will also return to MotoGP action this weekend in France. The Kent rider was forced to miss the last race in China because of problems with the KTM powered Proton KR machine.

The Oxfordshire-based team were due to test in Jerez at the weekend but did not make the trip to Spain. However, they will be at Le Mans for the fourth round of the Championship with a new spec version of their V4 engine.

The 250cc championship is turning into a fantastic battle between some very talented young riders. The current 125cc World Champion, Italian Andre Dovizioso took the lead with his second successive second place in China but it's very close.

Nineteen-year-old Australian Casey Stoner is becoming a real Championship threat. Riding the Carrera Sunglasses - LCR Aprilia, he's won the last two grands prix and is just three points behind the Team Scot Honda of the consistent Dovizioso. World Champion Dani Pedrosa is keeping the two pretenders well in sight and is just two points adrift of Stoner.

The 125cc class has produced three fantastic finishes and is even closer than the 250's. Finnish Red Bull KTM rider Mika Kallio leads the way by just one point from the consistent but still to win a grand prix, Italian Fabrizio Lai.

Mattia Pasini beat Lai by an elbow at the chequered flag in China to win his first grand prix and is a further four points behind Kallio. The sparks will fly on Sunday.