Guintoli, de Puniet lead then fall in home GP.

The Le Mans fans were treated to the unexpected sight of two Frenchman leading their home grand prix on Sunday... and then falling soon after.

Neither Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet nor Tech 3 Yamaha's Sylvain Guintoli had led a MotoGP race before, and that didn't look like changing on Sunday - until both took spectacular advantage of the treacherous race day rain.

Spurred on by the cheering fans, class rookie Guintoli - who, like the rest of the field, had started on slicks - overtook former five times MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi to lead on lap six of 28, before being replaced at the top by de Puniet a lap later.

Sadly for the pair, the worsening weather soon caught them both out; Guintoli falling from second place on lap eight, while de Puniet was on the verge of pitting for his rain bike when he tumbled from the lead just a lap later. Guintoli was able to rejoin and finish tenth, but de Puniet was out on the spot.

"That was a pretty funny race but I am extremely happy with the entire weekend," smiled Sylvain. "This is something special for me to do what I did in front of my home crowd with my good qualifying and the race. I got a very bad start as I wheelied off the line. I felt very confident passing everybody as I was trying to find a rhythm and the next thing I know I am in front with no one to chase. When I was in front for that one lap I didn't think about it, I just went for it. I was very surprised when the rear came around and made me crash as it didn't seem that wet. If I hadn't crashed I would have stayed out for a few more laps as it was not really wet enough to change bike.

"Tenth is my best result so I have to be very happy, even with a crash, but the entire weekend has been brilliant. We can take a lot out of this weekend as we got rid of any doubts about how competitive we can be. I am now very confident with the bike and my riding," he added.

"Sylvain was exceptional as he said to me before the start that it would be good to lead for just one lap and he did it!" enthused countryman and team manager Herve Poncharal. "It didn't look too good for him at the start as he was 13th at the first split but he fought his way through. When I saw the rain coming harder I thought it wasn't looking too good but we were ready for a crash and he was prepared to take the chance. Everyone around the track enjoyed seeing Sylvain in front and after he crashed he showed very good fighting spirit to pick the bike up and continue."

But de Puniet, in his second year of MotoGP, found his mistake harder to accept while Kawasaki indicated that the pressure may have got to him.

"I am so disappointed and I'm sorry for my crew, the team, Kawasaki and Bridgestone as they have all worked so hard," sighed Randy. "I lost some places in the run to the first corner, though I was feeling confident on the bike and I was quickly able to fight myself through the field and take the lead. And then the rain started to fall harder and I was about to come in to switch bikes when I crashed. Maybe I was too fast, I don't know, but the result was that the rear came round on me at the Esses Bleus and down I went. It's a shame because running at the front of the field in my home grand prix was a fantastic feeling. But, I learnt an important lesson today and I hope that I will have the opportunity to lead a race again this season, when I might handle things differently."

"We came to Le Mans with high expectations of Randy, because we knew our Ninja ZX-RR would be competitive here," stated Kawasaki competition manager Michael Bartholemy. "Early on in the race it looked like Randy was going to fulfil these expectations; he was confident on the bike and very aggressive in carving his way through to the front of the field. Unfortunately he either got a bit too overconfident or misread the worsening conditions, and crashed out of the race on the lap on which he was due to return to the pits to switch to a machine with a wet set-up. But, once again, he has shown his potential and now he has some experience of leading a race, and we hope that the next time he finds himself at the front of the field then he'll be able to better handle the pressure."