Jorge Martin takes the victory in his first sprint race, as Bagnaia and Marquez fight for second place.

During the sprint round of the French Grand Prix, championship leader Pecco Bagnaia took pole position away from the returning Repsol Honda star Marc Marquez by a margin of less than six-hundredths of a second. He was closely followed by VR46 Mooney Ducati’s Luca Marini. Jorge Martin of Pramac Ducati took an early lead in the subsequent dash race, which was held at the illustrious LeMans track, and went on to win convincingly.

Francesco Bagnaia, the current world champion for Ducati, got off to an excellent start as the lights went out at the beginning of the 13-lap sprint race. However, his lead did not last for very long as Jorge Martin’s satellite Ducati made up four positions to take the lead from the Italian on lap four. Martin was riding in second place at the time.

After starting in 10th place, Martin immediately established a comfortable lead and won the race by finishing 1.8 seconds ahead of KTM’s Brad Binder. Binder finished in second place despite having started in the 10th position. Bagnaia was able to hold off VR46’s Luca Marini and take the third and final slot on the podium, while Marc Marquez finished fifth in his racing comeback.

Bagnaia seized the lead into the Dunlop chicane at the beginning of the race, and he was closely followed by Martin, Jack Miller, Marini, and Marquez, who had fallen from second place on the grid earlier. Marquez quickly moved past Marini at the seventh switch, moving up to fourth position as the leading pack created a gap from the riders who were pursuing them.

Unfortunately, Miller was involved in an accident on the second lap of the race, which moved Marquez up to third place. At the same time, Binder carried out a powerful move on Marini at Turn 8, which enabled him to secure fourth place. In the meantime, Martin has maintained a consistent advantage over Bagnaia and made a decisive move on the fourth lap at the Dunlop chicane. This has eliminated any possibility of retaliation coming from Bagnaia.

On the lap that followed, Binder continued his strong overall performance by passing both Marquez and Bagnaia in one fell swoop, thereby moving into second place. At this point in the competition, Martin had already established a significant lead of 1.4 seconds. At the Dunlop chicane, Marquez demonstrated his aggressive driving style by reclaiming third place by capitalising on Bagnaia’s slowing rate and moving up in the standings.

Bagnaia got even with Marquez on the ninth lap by retaking third place and demonstrating his displeasure with the move. Throughout the course of the race, a number of riders experienced difficulties, including Miller, Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez, and Alex Marquez. Additionally, fan favourite Fabio Quartararo was involved in a crash on lap 10, which ended his race. Martin was able to cruise to an easy victory by not being challenged at any point up until the checkered flag was waved. Both Binder and Bagnaia finished on the podium for KTM, with Binder claiming a different position on the podium and Bagnaia claiming the final spot on the podium.

Marini was able to pass Marquez late in the race and secure fourth place, while Johann Zarco finished in sixth place on his Pramac Ducati. The remaining points were taken by Marco Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaro, and Maverick Vinales, and Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the top 10 drivers.

Ahead of the upcoming grand prix, Bagnaia’s lead in the championship standings was cut down to 23 points, and Binder emerged as his closest contender, passing Bezzecchi in the rankings.