Ducati’s sovereignty in France too! Bezzecchi’s Le Mans triumph puts him within a point of Bagnaia, who crashed again

The French MotoGP Grand Prix brought a great spectacle in the 1000th round of the World Championship history! It was a rollercoaster ride to describe the performance of reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia. After five races, he has three crashes and two wins to his name. Despite this unflattering record, the Italian still leads the championship, but only by a single point. His compatriot and fellow Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi, who took his second grand prix of the season at Le Mans, is now within touching distance.

The historic moment came during the French Grand Prix at the famous Le Mans circuit. The World Road Racing Championship celebrated the 1000th race weekend in its 74-year history. However, as we explained here, it was not the 1000th race of the strongest MotoGP cubature. Nevertheless, the whole weekend was marked by this important milestone.

In Saturday’s sprint, Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martín was unbeatable, showing that Ducati has the upper hand here too, both in numbers and speed.

Finishing third behind Brad Binder was last season’s champion Francesco Bagnaia, who got a second chance to consolidate his position at the top of the standings in Sunday’s race.

A chaotic start to the race for a record crowd

Unlike the sprint, Bagnaia’s situation from pole position complicated the race from the first corners. The 26-year-old Italian dropped to fifth place, while returning rider Marc Márquez fought his way to the front.

The eight-time world champion held on to first place on the factory Honda ahead of Jack Miller on the KTM and a pair of Ducati riders, Marc Bezzecchi and Jorge Martín. Bagnaia quickly worked his way back to at least fourth ahead of Martín.

Miller left nothing to chance and used the potential of his machine to manoeuvre Márquez into the first chicane of the circuit. However, the Australian was subsequently unable to break away from the leading group, which gradually formed into a seven-rider train that included other Ducati riders and Maverick Viñales on the Aprilia.

The Spaniard made several manoeuvres, only for a pivotal moment in this year’s championship to occur as he attempted to pass Bagnai. Viñales attacked Bagnai, only to leave the ideal racing line.

This forced the Italian to take back his momentarily lost position by outsprinting his rival. However, Viñales collided with Bagnanias as he was about to take the next corner and both were knocked out of the race!

Moments later, another accident occurred, this time between Ducati satellite riders Álex Márquez and Luca Marini. The former slammed into his stablemate from behind, at that moment saving himself from an almost certain crash!

The never-ending drama

At one point the field thinned significantly and, much like in the United States, reserve riders and substitutes were slowly guaranteed championship points. The group at the other end of the starting field had other concerns. Bezzecchi managed to pass Márquez and, on lap 12 of the race, Miller, whose pace began to drop rapidly down the order.

One lap was enough for Bezzecchi to build up a lead of more than a second on the others. Step by step, Miller began to drop through the field, allowing Márquez and Martín to pull together and begin a battle for second place.

The progress of the race didn’t let up even halfway through the grand prix. Not only did the action on the track itself continue unabated, Honda suffered two losses in the form of Joan Miró and Álex Rins, who went down on laps 13 and 15 respectively.

Behind the leading trio, Augusto Fernández shone on the GASGAS machine, a disguised satellite KTM. The only newcomer in the series passed the struggling Miller. He also held off Aprilia rider Aleix Espargar, but was no match for Johann Zarco, who set out to chase down the podium on home soil.

Crashes ended a race full of crashes

As the end of the race approached, Bezzecchi had built up a gap of more than three seconds on the duo of Márquez and Martín. With six laps to go, Martín made his first move on his more successful compatriot, but Márquez did not give up. Zarco watched the situation from afar, subtly closing in on the battling duo.

Miller’s woes ended prematurely when he dropped his KTM with just three circuits to go before the chequered flag. As a result, the 28-year-old Townsville native didn’t take a single point from Le Mans when he also crashed in Saturday’s short race.

With two laps to go, Martín completed his next overtaking manoeuvre on Márquez, whose Honda decided not to continue. He couldn’t handle the entrance to Turn 7 and sent his rider into a duck. Whether or not it was a mistake by Márquez, Honda will not take away any pleasant memories from France. Only Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami finished the race.

But who could rejoice beyond measure was Ducati. Bezzecchi won by more than four seconds ahead of Ducati teammates Martín and home hero Zarco, who thrilled a record crowd of nearly 280,000 across the race weekend.

In fourth position, the great Fernandez crossed the imaginary finish line ahead of Espargaro. The second Frenchman in the field, Fabio Quartararo, finished his Yamaha in seventh place. Only 13 riders finished the race out of 21 starters.

Bezzecchi’s second win of the season saw him finish just one point behind Bagnaia in the riders’ championship. The MotoGP series will have a four-week break after the VC of France, after which they will compete in Mugello, Italy.

Results of the French MotoGP Grand Prix (race 5/20, 25 laps = 120.15 km; top 10 only):

1. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) 41::37.970
2. Jorge Martín (Span., Ducati) +4.256
3. Johann Zarco (Fra., Ducati) +4.795
4. Augusto Fernández (Sp., KTM) +6.281
5. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) +6.726
6. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) +13.638
7. Fabio Quartararo (Fra., Yamaha) +15.023
8. Fabio di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) +15.826
9. Takaaki Nakagami (Jap., Honda) +16.370
10. Franco Morbidelli (Ita., Yamaha) +17.828

2023 MotoGP rider standings (after 5/20; top 10 only)::

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 94
2. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) 93
3. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 81
4. Jorge Martín (Span., Ducati) 80
5. Johann Zarco (Fra., Ducati) 66
6. Luca Marini (Ita., Ducati) 54
7. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) 49
8. Jack Miller (Aus., KTM) 49
9. Fabio Quartararo (Fra., Yamaha) 49
10. Álex Rins (Span., Honda) 47

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