Martin takes Sprint win to extend championship lead as Bagnaia suffers mechanical

A strong ride from Jorge Martin saw him triumph in the Sprint race at the French Grand Prix, whilst title rival Pecco Bagnaia suffered a mechanical and didn’t finish the race.

Elsewhere Marc Marquez made a brilliant recovery from 13th to find himself on the second step of the podium, with Maverick Vinales secured third place.

On a great run for most of the race it was heartbreak for Marco Bezzecchi as he crashed out and lost his podium place while rising star Pedro Acosta rose through the pack to secure a solid sixth.

The result means that Martin, who has looked quick the entire weekend, is now 28 points clear at the top of the standings whilst Bagnaia has actually dropped to third behind compatriot Enea Bastianini.

The riders will now prepare for Sunday’s full race with the rest of the pack looking to try and find a way to put pressure on Martin and stop his strong start to the season.

In what could be the only dry race of the season, riders endured the French sun and low winds around the curves of Le Mans.

Pole-sitter Martin clung onto his position from start to finish, while Bagnaia fell to the bottom of the grid after a suspected mechanical issue from his qualifying crash hindered his performance.

The older Marquez climbed up from his disastrous qualifying place to fourth in the first lap, snatching that position from Vinales going into the second lap.

Yamaha rider Alex Rins crashed at Turn 8, falling victim to the gravel traps while a battle up front between Acosta and Fabio di Giannantonio ensued for the last five laps.

Acosta targeted Di Giannantonio in the hunt for sixth, swapping positions around the tricky circuit until the youngster cemented himself in sixth as Di Giannantonio conceded around Turn 5.

Inheriting second place from Bagnaia after his retirement from the race, Bezzecchi was challenging the race leader and holding off Marquez until he also crashed in the final three laps.

Bezzecchi rode too deep around the flat curve at Turn 9, gifting the third place position to Marquez as he recovered from his poor starting position.

“The target was to be in the top 7 or 8 because the pace was there. In some laps, I was on the same pace as Martin. Super happy, impressive but tomorrow will be difficult to repeat the same start because today was perfect,” Marquez said in his post-race interview.

Closing the gap on Vinales, Bastianini inched towards the Aprilia in third but the Aprilia was the only bike able to challenge the power of Ducati so far this weekend.

After chaos unfolded behind him, Martin managed to create a gap of two seconds ahead of Marquez to secure his victory at Le Mans for Ducati.

“First of all, great fans because this is a fantastic crowd,” Martin said. “I’m so happy because the pace was outstanding. I knew, I knew from Thursday. It was difficult because Marco was putting out some great laps, then when I saw he crashed I just tried to keep my constant pace right to the end, quite relaxed. Tomorrow will be a long race.”

With weather predicted to change tomorrow, the riders will be up for a new challenge around Le Mans as temperatures are expected to drop and rain is on the way.

After suffering from a tricky qualifying session with an unhappy Gresini, Marquez made one of his greatest recovery rides from 13th on the starting grid to second.

Coming back in full force after a brilliant performance at the Spanish GP, Marquez proved exactly why he is a six-time MotoGP world champion. He stormed through the grid as Bagnaia fell from his second place down to 14th, swapping positions with Marquez, and retired from the race with suspected mechanical issues.

Bringing the points home for Gresini, Marquez used his pace advantage to wear down Bezzecchi. before he crashed out in the final three laps. Taking the risk to dive down the inside of Vinales early in the race, his podium place was cemented long before Bezzecchi crashed out.

1/13: MARTIN CLINGS ONTO HIS POLE – Martin nails the start from pole while Bagnaia fell to 14th after a slow start, but Marquez crept up from 13th to fifth in an excellent climb. The world champion stormed up the grid, snatching the fourth position from Vinales around the left corner.

2/13: MARTIN LEADS WHILE BAGNAIA FALLS TO BOTTOM – Martin leads the French GP Sprint race in search for his first win around Le Mans while the second-runner Bagnaia fell to the bottom of the grid after a disastrously slow start due to a crash in qualifying.

6/13: MARTIN LEADS WHILE MARQUEZ SETS FASTEST LAP – Rins crashes at Turn 8, falling into the gravel traps coming out of the long straight. Marquez tails behind Bezzecchi for second place, cutting the gap down to less than a second on the hunt for the race leader Martin who has failed to pull away from his fellow Ducati riders.

10/13: BEZZECCHI CRASHES OUT – Bezzecchi crashes out at Turn 9, going too deep around the flat curve and tumbles out of the podium places. This leaves the race-leader vulnerable to Marquez on the hunt with a brilliant recovery ride from 13th.

13/13: MARTIN WINS – Martin led the grid from start to finish, to secure the victory around Le Mans.