Jorge Martin has delivered a stunning performance at Le Mans, winning the French GP sprint race and claiming victory for Pramac Ducati.
The race saw a mixture of success and disappointment for the home crowd as reigning MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia made a brilliant start and led into turn one from Jack Miller, only for Martin to take the lead by lap four.
Miller, using a medium front tyre that had caused many riders to crash in practice, suffered an early exit at turn seven.
Meanwhile, Martin’s lead over Brad Binder was up to 1.5 seconds, and Bagnaia, who was all over Marc Marquez, regained a podium spot by overtaking Marquez with a brave move at turn one.
The race was a huge disappointment for Fabio Quartararo, the 2021 world champion, who made brilliant progress from 13th to eighth prior to his crash at turn nine with four laps remaining.
Quartararo’s crash was a major letdown for the home crowd.
At the front, the top three remained unchanged as Martin took his first win of 2023, with Binder and Bagnaia completing the podium at 2nd and 3rd place.
Meanwhile, Luca Marini takes 4th place ahead of Marquez who struggled at the end.