MotoGP's France round continues our European tour at the beginning and middle parts of the season, and you'll need a good setup to be fast for the MotoGP 23 French Grand Prix!
We're really impressed by MotoGP 23 and you read why by heading over to our full review. MotoGP 23 is one of the most complete motorbike games on the market, but it's not easy.
In MotoGP 23's Career Mode, the fifth round of your first full season takes place in France. The French GP is Round 5 on the full calendar, but isn't featured on the short calendar.
The Le Mans Bugatti circuit is a shortened version of the full endurance track that hosts the world-famous 24 hours. Le Mans has hosted the French Motorcycle Grand Prix since the year 2000.
Le Mans can be a huge challenge at times, but we're here to help as always with our MotoGP 23 French setup guide!
MotoGP 23 France setup
Le Mans may be an old track, but the sections of the Bugatti circuit are a modern and safe track. There's plenty of run-off around most of the track, so running wide is rarely a serious issue.
Passing is very tough here and aside from the Turns 2 & 3 and 7 & 8 chicanes, overtaking is almost impossible.
Starting with the tyres, you're best to go middle of the road with Medium compounds on the front and rear of the bike. This will allow you to push through the whole race without losing much performance.
You can go with either a hard on the rear or a soft on the front, but both of these combinations aren't preferable to mediums.
Suspension
Front pre-load needs to be low at 2 to allow for more consistent steering around the long corners in Le Mans. Oil quality should be up at 4, with the front spring hardness also at 4.
The front fork compression is best at 4, as is the extension of the fork.
On the rear, the rear pre-load has to go down to 3 with the Swingarm connector up at 4. Spring hardness should be up at 5, with shock absorber compression up at 3 and the extension also at 4 to help the bike's overall grip.
Vehicle geometry
For your Vehicle Geometry, the steering head inclination should be down at 3 to allow for good turn-in.
The trail also should be down at 3, as should the steering plate. Lastly, the rear swingarm length needs to be down at 2.
Transmission
Your gears in France should be slightly below the default value for all gears. This is because France's average speed is relatively low for MotoGP.
The final ratio needs to be at least 6 though, because the pit-straight is pretty quick despite the kink in it. The slipper clutch should be down at 3, though, to help the stability.
Brake System
In France, there are two long braking zones so you need to have good brakes to be effective around here. On top of that, the Turn 2 braking zone has to be tackled while steering.
A 340mm high mass brake on the front and a 220mm on the rear are the best options here.
ECU
As usual, electronic aids that are available to you in MotoGP definitely come in handy here. You'll need to turn all of them up quite high to keep your bike on the road. Traction Control should be up at 4 to help prevent excess wheelspin out of slower corners.
Engine Braking also should be cranked up to 4 in order to shave speed around the long corners. Anti-wheelie also has to be up at 5 to prevent the front wheel from flying off the ground when getting on the power.
Power mapping is best at 3 for a flying lap, but you'll need to turn this around during some points in the race. This is to save the engine and fuel.
All of these can be adjusted out on track using the HUD in the bottom-right of the screen.