Huge crash for Marc Marquez in MotoGP France sprint, Jorge Martin stuns for win
Jorge Martin comes from eighth to win a dramatic sprint at the French Grand Prix
Aprilia’s Jorge Martin came from eighth to win a dramatic MotoGP French Grand Prix sprint, as Marc Marquez suffered a big crash on the penultimate lap.
The 2024 world champion was struggling for pace on Friday and could only manage eighth on the grid on his factory Aprilia.
But Jorge Martin got a blinding start and snatched the lead through the first few corners, before immediately putting a second between himself and the chasing pack.
He would lead all the way to the chequered flag to take an 18th sprint victory and second of the season by 1.107s, as he maintains his Saturday streak at Le Mans.
Pecco Bagnaia was second after starting from pole, while Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi had his championship lead cut to six points in third.
Marc Marquez suffered a nightmare from second on the grid, as he slid back into the pack and crashed heavily on the penultimate lap.
The Ducati rider lost the front initially on the way into the Turn 13 right-hander, before his GP26 gripped and spat him into a highside.
He is now 51 points down on the championship lead.
Marco Bezzecchi appeared to get the best start on the first of the Aprilias, but would be passed by his fast-starting team-mate Martin into the Dunlop chicane at Turns 3 and 4.
Bezzecchi ran wide at Turn 7 on the third lap of 13, allowing Bagnaia to move into second.
But by now, Martin was already a second clear of the field and Bagnaia would not be able to close that deficit down.
Martin got his lead up to 1.5s at one stage, before easing his pace on the final lap to secure his second sprint win of the season.
Bagnaia put 1.6s between himself and Bezzecchi for his third successive sprint podium.
Pedro Acosta was fourth on the KTM ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, who also fended Honda’s Joan Mir at bay.
Ai Ogura was promoted to seventh on the Trackhouse Aprilia after Marc Marquez’s crash, while Alex Marquez was a distant eighth on the Gresini Ducati.
The final point went to LCR Honda’s Diogo Moreira, who headed team-mate Johann Zarco.
Fabio Di Giannantonio suffered a shocking start on his VR46 Ducati, as he was shuffled outside of the top 10 following a bad launch.
He would crash on lap four and finished a lap down in 16th.
Team-mate Franco Morbidelli also fell out of the sprint, as did Honda’s Luca Marini, Tech3 duo Jonas Folger and Enea Bastianini, and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez.
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