MOTORCYCLING Live

2/26 Faubel is three seconds clear of Locatelli in second. Two laps to go...

3/26 Simoncelli's lead is almost 20 seconds now. Barring a silly mistake the race is his.

4/26 Debon comes a cropper for a second time. This time there is no other rider involved. His race is over.

5/26 Faubel is now up to second, with Roberto Locatelli of Italy in third.

7/26 Luthi doesn't manage to get back up and going and he is absolutely distraught to see his race over.

10/26 Debon is lapping quicker than Luthi and gradually gaining on him...THEN SUDDENLY THE PAIR COLLIDE AND BOTH FLY OFF THE TRACK. Debon gets back up and still has a good chance of being in the points, but a podium chance may be gone.

12/26 Debon is around two seconds back from Luthi in second. Meanwhile, championship leader Aoyama is down in 10th.

14/26 Oooohhhhh!! Simoncelli has a real wobble and almost throws it away, but he holds on. That was a warning for the race leader.

15/26 Mike Di Meglio's race is over after a slide off the track. Simoncelli is almost eight seconds clear now. This is a commanding performance.

17/26 Alex Debon is currently in third, attempting to hunt down Luthi in second.

18/26 Simoncelli clocks the fastest lap of the race to move further clear. He is just over nine seconds ahead of Luthi in second.

19/26 Alex Baldolini is in sixth and going well...BUT HE JOINS THE LIST OF CASUALTIES WITH A SKID OFF ONTO THE GRAVEL!!!

20/26 Axel Pons of Spain is out of the race after a dramatic tumble. He's fine.

21/26 Simoncelli is eight seconds clear of Luthi now and threatening to make this a one-man race.

23/26 Mattia Pasini of Italy is up into second, but he loses control and skids off!!! Thomas Luthi benefits to move up into second himself.

24/26 Aitor Rodriguez is the next man to come a cropper. Simoncelli leads by almost a second from Lukas Pesek.

25/26 Simoncelli is into the lead. Meanwhile, Swiss rider Bastien Chesaux kicks the gravel in disgust after skidding off.

26/26 Shouya Tomizawa is the first casualty, skidding off on a bend. He'll get back up.

26/26 They're AWAY!!! Marco Simoncelli gets off to a great start. He's in second behind championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama.

- Forget that! The rain has started to pelt down again and we could be in for a very eventful 250cc race. If it's anything like the 125s, there will be plenty of bikes skidding off the track.

- Good morning petrolheads and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the 250cc race at the French MotoGP. We've had plenty of rain, but the track appears to be drying out gradually.