The Spaniard Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac), at the head of the MotoGP world championship, won the French Grand Prix on Sunday, the 5th round of the season, ahead of another Spaniard, the superstar Marc Marquez (Ducati-Gresini). The double reigning champion, the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) completes the podium.
Author of a solid start from second place on the grid, Bagnaia got the better of pole sitter Martin from the first hectometers to take the lead of the race. The two strong drivers of the day engaged in a fierce battle for victory on the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans, with Marc Marquez joining in less than ten laps from the end of the race.
Starting from a distant 13th place on the grid, “I made a very good comeback!” enjoyed the six-time MotoGP world champion in front of a heated audience. “I tried everything,” defended Bagnaia, who was taken second place at the very end of the race. “These two (Martin and Marquez, editor’s note) had something more in the last laps,” he admitted.
Frenchman Johann Zarco finishes 12th
Overall, Martin, already winner of the sprint race on Saturday, consolidates his leading position and is now 38 points ahead of Bagnaia, who regains his second place lost the day before at the end of the sprint which he did not have finished. Marquez, new third, is 40 units behind his compatriot.
The Frenchman Johann Zarco (Honda-LCR) finished 12th, his compatriot, the 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) having retired after falling, while he was 6th. The young Spaniard Pedro Acosta, 19, also fell in the first laps of the GP while fighting for 3rd place. This is the first retirement in the race for the rider of the French team GasGas-Tech3, considered one of the greatest hopes in MotoGP since Marquez.