Breathtaking! What a race at Le Mans and with a trio of riders of the highest calibre, Jorge Martín, Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez fighting literally until the last seconds. Martín won and clinched the double on French soil. Unbelievable end to the race.
After the first indications, confirmation: the French GP is, for the second year running, the GP with the biggest attendance ever! There are 297,471 people on the circuit.
At the start of the race, with 27 laps, Jorge Martín won yesterday’s Sprint and started from pole position. Francesco Bagnaia, who retired yesterday, was also on the front row of the grid, as was Maverick Viñales.
🚦LIGHTS OUT in #MotoGP! 🚦@PeccoBagnaia makes it stick on @88jorgemartin after a few corners! ✅#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/ZfYLh7KCNd
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 12, 2024
An intense start to the race saw Bagnaia move into the lead, with Martín responding briefly, but the #1 would go on to take the lead and Aleix Espargaró in third. Fabio Di Giannantonio was fourth and Viñales fifth.
It wasn’t long before Pedro Acosta was fifth, beating Viñales, with Enea Bastianini seventh, Marc Márquez eighth, Marco Bezzecchi ninth and Fabio Quartararo tenth.
On the following lap Márquez hit Bastianini and a few moments later there it was: Acosta’s first MotoGP crash, at turn 8, when he was trying to get into third place. The rookie fell between Espargaró and DiGia and miraculously didn’t take any other riders with him.
A gutting mistake from @37_pedroacosta! 💔
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 12, 2024
He was fingertips away from taking 3rd 😱😱#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/WpTjGUH7wg
The next to crash was Bezzecchi, at turn 6. On the track, all eyes were on Marc Márquez, who was closing in on Viñales.
With five laps completed Martín was trying to put pressure on Bagnaia and the gap between the two was 0.176s. Espargaró was 0.609s off the lead duo and just behind him his team-mate was still under pressure from M. Márquez, with the #12 and #93 separated by 0.174s.
In between the fight for the podium places DiGia beat Espargaró but the Aprilia rider was back in third place soon after.
The dark clouds were starting to roll in at Le Mans and at any moment it could start raining, with the teams ready and the second bike prepared for the eventuality of a Flag-to-Flag race.
On the last lap and a half Espargaró struggled and fell from third place to sixth, with DiGia following him in third, Viñales was fourth and M. Márquez was fifth. The top ten included Miguel Oliveira in ninth and Brad Binder in tenth.
Bagnaia continued to lead with 0.503s over Martín, who in turn had 0.840s over DiGia. Franco Morbidelli had meanwhile beaten Binder to close out the top ten for the time being.
Enea Bastianini, sixth, was penalised with a Long Lap for cutting corner 9, which could limit his position. He then completed the Long Lap and returned in ninth place.
Not what @Bestia23 was hoping for after his battle with @AleixEspargaro 😱
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 12, 2024
He serves a long lap penalty for taking a shortcut at T10 ⚠️#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/3IquwrjDV3
With the race halfway, so was the top ten:
Joan Mir made the yellow flags come up when he crashed in the fourth sector, at a stage of the race in which the fight for the podium places was again hot: M. Márquez was increasingly closer to #49, with just 0.190s separating the drivers in command from the Desmosedici GP23.
Márquez’s attack happened but DiGia closed the door and this allowed Viñales to approach.
In the space of a minute, Jack Miller fell, just like local hero Fabio Quartararo, and Márquez confirmed that he had overtaken DiGia, who, with a departure from the best trajectory on the track, also lost the position to Viñales. At the front, new enthusiasm for Martín who was as close as ever to Bagnaia: 0.233s separated his rivals.
And the situation for DiGia was no better, with him taking a shortcut and being penalized with a Long Lap. At the front, the fight was heating up between Bagnaia and Martín!
With eight laps to go Martín confirmed the overtaking but Bagnaia returned the maneuver to his opponent and returned to the front of the race. Who was making the most of this battle? Márquez, 0.944s behind the lead. All scenarios were open.
Locking horns like 🤯🤯🤯@88jorgemartin makes a move on @PeccoBagnaia but the Italian swiftly gets him back! 🔥#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/c2fB85Xbsr
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 12, 2024
The overtaking was confirmed one lap later and Márquez was now 0.450s ahead of the race.
Martín was trying to escape and gained 0.289s on Bagnaia, who had Márquez on his heels at just 0.109s.
With four laps to go the top ten looked like this:
What intensity at Le Mans! The top three was very close and the excitement that was being experienced in France was palpable. One mistake, no matter how small, would change everything. Martín led by 0.146s over Bagnaia, who in turn had Márquez at 0.332s.
At the start of the last one the top three were within 0.275s!!
Bagnaia was on the attack but Márquez went on the attack and overtook the Italian and this worked in favor of Martín who achieved the double in Le Mans! Márquez was second and Bagnaia third.