Martín dominated the MotoGP sprint again! He won Le Mans ahead of Márquez and Viñales, Bagnaia retired

Jorge Martín continued Saturday’s extravaganza with another MotoGP sprint triumph, giving no one a chance at Le Mans in France and, for the twelfth time in his career, finding no one to beat in the taster before the main race. Marc Márquez finished second ahead of Maverick Viñales after a brilliant comeback from thirteenth position at the start. Reigning champion Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia totally failed to make the start and did not finish the sprint after crashing in last position.

From the traditional circuit in Jerez, Spain, the MotoGP circus moved to another traditional affair, the race track near Le Mans, France. In the motorsport world, the venue is most famous for the legendary 24-hour race. However, the World Road Motorcycle Championship has been racing at the alternative Bugatti circuit since 1969.

In the morning qualifying session, championship leader Jorge Martín was the best performer. The Spanish rider of the Pramac Ducati team was the only one of the entire starting field to break the one minute and 30 seconds mark.

Although Martín crashed after his record-breaking attempt, he retained pole position ahead of reigning World Champion Pecco Bagnaia, who mimicked his direct rival for the title with his own crash. Maverick Viñales on Aprilia took the front row alongside the pair.

Martín after starting first, another Saturday loss for Bagnaia

The MotoGP sprint at Le Mans promised to be a knife-edge battle between the main contenders for the world title, thanks to the first and second positions of Martín and Bagnai respectively. The theory, however, did not translate into practice.

While Martín didn’t have the slightest trouble after the lights went out, the Italian’s horrific drive off the grid sent him plummeting down to thirteenth place. The front wheel of Bagnai’s Ducati lifted off and the two-time MotoGP champion could only watch as rider after rider raced past him.

In contrast, Marc Márquez scored a phenomenal opening corner of the 13-lap sprint. Despite starting from thirteenth place after a botched qualifying session, he quickly gained several positions and was circling fourth at the end of the first lap behind Marc Bezzecchi and Aleix Espargaro.

With each sector Martín increased his lead on his closest pursuers. Bagnaia, on the other hand, was unable to fight his way up and gradually dropped to fifteenth. To add to the 27-year-old Italian’s woes, a mistake and an exit into the duck ultimately sealed his Saturday programme. Whether it was a purely technical issue, Bagnaia lost valuable championship points to Martino again after the last sprint.

Back at the front, things were happening for Espargar, who, as the most experienced rider in the field, missed the start and received a double long lap penalty. While Martín controlled the pace, the gap between the leading riders grew so much that Espargaró didn’t lose much ground after completing his penalty and moved up to fifth. Meanwhile, Joan Mir fell off his Honda and Bagnai’s teammate Enea Bastianini took on Jack Miller in a battle for sixth.

Martín dominated the sprint again, with Márquez the biggest jumper

Miller’s Saturday afternoon was poisoned by drops behind both Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pedro Acosta, who is likely to replace the Australian in the factory KTM. There was no major drama at the front for now, with the gap between the top four growing to over one second.

The on-track action was thus particularly in the middle of the field. Bastianini took care of fifth-placed Espargar and Acosta moved ahead of Di Giannantonio into seventh. The only shocking moment of the sprint was provided by second-placed Bezzecchi, who threw his Ducati away at turn nine. The mistake by the third man from the Spanish VC moved Márquez into silver and Viñales into bronze.

However, nothing major happened until the chequered flag after Bezzecchi’s crash. Although Acosta was bearing down on Espargar and Bastianini on Viñales, there was no direct duel for the spectators. Although the 19-year-old rookie made another superb save in the last double-stop, his position did not change.

Martín went on to claim another sprint triumph, the 12th of his career. Márquez finished second ahead of Viñales, Bastianini and Espargaro.

Results of the French Grand Prix MotoGP sprint (13 laps = 54.405 km; top 10 only):

1. Jorge Martín (Sp., Ducati) 19:49.694
2. Marc Márquez (Span., Ducati) +2.280
3. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) +4.174
4. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) +4.798
5. Aleix Espargaró (Span., Aprilia) +7.698
6. Pedro Acosta (Span., KTM) +9.185
7. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) +11.190
8. Jack Miller (Aus., KTM) +11.516
9. Raúl Fernández (Span., Aprilia) +12.257
10. Fabio Quartararo (Fra., Yamaha) +12.699

2024 MotoGP rider standings (top 10 only):

1. Jorge Martín (Spa., Ducati) 104 points
2. Enea Bastianini (Ita., Ducati) 76
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita., Ducati) 75
4. Pedro Acosta (Span., KTM) 73
5. Maverick Viñales (Span., Aprilia) 70
6. Marc Márquez (Spaniard, Ducati) 69
7. Brad Binder (RJA, KTM) 59
8. Aleix Espargaró (Spaniard, Aprilia) 44
9. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ita., Ducati) 37
10. Marco Bezzecchi (Ita., Ducati) 36

Sources: MotoGP, X