Outside Bezzecchi pass completes Jorge Martin’s eighth-to-first Le Mans Sprint charge

Jorge Martin produced a stunning opening lap to charge from eighth on the grid to victory in Saturday’s Le Mans MotoGP Sprint.

A rapid launch, followed by an instinctive outside move on Aprilia team-mate and title leader Marco Bezzecchi, put the Spaniard into the lead after the opening chicane.

Martin was never headed thereafter, keeping clear of Bezzecchi and then eventual runner-up Pecco Bagnaia to secure his second Sprint victory of the season.

“Starting in eighth, you cannot make a lot of plans because you have to wait and see what the other riders do,” Martin told TNT Sports.

“I just went through the gaps that I saw. I was arriving a bit faster than the others so I could decide better. Then when I saw Marco, I just went on the outside and that was it.

“I'm really happy with my start and then how I managed the race. I pushed quite a lot at the beginning to try to make that gap and then trying to maintain was not easy, but I could do an amazing job.”

Martin’s success followed progress at the recent Jerez post-race test.

But the 2024 world champion, who missed part of pre-season testing due to injury, admitted he is still searching for the ideal base setup.

“We are on this process,” he said. “Today, I changed something on the setup for the race. So that means we still don't have that base setup [right]. I'm still changing quite a lot the bike.

“For sure, the things we tried in Jerez helped me - that's why I was fastest today! But still I need to change the setup a bit.

“But anyway, super happy and proud of the work the team is doing.”

Martin will now aim to repeat his fast start in Sunday’s grand prix, when rain is forecast at Le Mans.

“Today it was expected rain and finally the sun was out when I woke up. So let's wait for tomorrow,” he said.

“It will be the same for everybody. So we just have to be prepared, work hard on understanding when it's going to rain or not and be ready for everything.”