Martin dominates French MotoGP Sprint, Bagnaia DNF

Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) had qualified on pole position and converted that into the early lead as Bagnaia (Ducati Team) dropped from the middle of the front row to 15th in the opening sectors of the Le Mans circuit.

Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati), on the other hand, bolted from Row 5 to be passing Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina VR46 Ducati) for fifth at Turn 6.

He went under Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) through Turn 11/Turn 12 to run fourth at the end of the standing lap, behind Martin, Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina VR46 Ducati), and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing).

The latter would be issued a double Long Lap Penalty for a jumpstart while the reason for Bagnaia’s tardy getaway became apparent when he was off the track with a technical problem and into retirement.

Marc Marquez inherited third place with the first of Espargaro’s double Long Laps and assumed second place on Lap 10 when Bezzecchi crashed at Turn 9.

That spill turned Martin’s second-plus lead over #72 into a two-second margin over #93, with Viñales third at the time from Enea Bastianini (Ducati Team), Espargaro, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GasGas Tech3), Di Giannantonio, and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM), who had run sixth in the early stages.

Martin won by 2.280s after 13 laps, from Marc Marquez, Viñales, Bastianini, Espargaro, and Acosta, who made a big save when he ran wide and nearly crashed exiting Turn 14 on the penultimate lap.

Di Giannantonio was seventh, Miller eighth, and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) the final pointscorer in ninth, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) rounding out the top 10.

There were four DNFs in the end, with Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha) and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) crashing separately.

Martin now leads the championship by 28 points, with Bastianini second and Bagnaia a point further back in third.

Race results: Sprint race

Race winner: 13 laps

Riders’ championship