At the end of this Sprint race contested at Le Mans as part of the French Grand Prix, Jorge Martin opened his victory counter ahead of an always astonishing Brad Binder and Pecco Bagnaia who saved the furniture after a competition where he was not at the forefront. shelter from bad blows with Marc Marquez behind him. He increases his championship lead to 23 points. The first pursuer is now Brad Binder, who ousted Bezzecchi from second place in the World Championship. Jorge Martin moves to fourth place with his first victory since Austria 2021.
George Martin is the third winner of the sprints after the double winners: bagnaia (Algarve, Austin), Brad Binder (Rio Hondo, Jerez). In his career, the Spaniard from Pramac Ducati had never scored points at Le Mans in 7 races contested in all classes. Marc Marquez obtained his 12 points for 2023 during the two Sprints in which he participated (Algarve, Le Mans).
Pecco Bagnaia is the only driver to have won 4 medals during the first 5 Sprints organized against 3 Brad Binder et Martin. fabio quartararo only got one point in this year's Sprints (9th in Algarve).
Here are the comments of the three drivers on the podium of the Corsican Sprint of the French Grand Prix:
George Martin (Pramac-Ducati; 1st): “ It finally worked again! I am very proud of my team and myself. It's been a long time since we celebrated a first place. I was able to enjoy the feeling of being in the lead again, without making any mistakes, just by pushing hard. It wasn't easy to widen the gap on Brad. I then really enjoyed the last two turns until the checkered flag ».
🤯 @ 88jorgemartin has gone to the front!
And now it's all kicking off behind! ⚔️#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/qHp3TYh45L
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2023
French Grand Prix, Pecco Bagnaia: “ Marc Marquez passed me very aggressively »
Brad Binder (KTM; 2nd): “ I knew that everything would depend on the departure. If I could keep up with the guys in the initial phase, then I knew a good result could come out at the end. I did my best today and I can only repeat myself: my team did an incredible job again. We know what we can still improve for tomorrow. I can't wait because I think we can still do it clearly in the long race ».
The action we're all here for! 😎#TissotSprint 💯#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/dYD6MlLngD
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2023
Francis Bagnaia (Ducati; 3rd): “ at first, It took me a few laps for the tires to warm up. Then Marc passed me very aggressively. A lot of time was wasted in the process. We touched and I lost two positions. It was tight. But then things went pretty well. I was able to close the gap again and finished third ».
👊 @marcmarquez93 wipes the nose of the World Champion! #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/2b2IT8F0U0
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2023
Here is the championship ranking MotoGP after this Saturday afternoon at the French Grand Prix:
- Pecco Bagnaia 94
- Brad Binder 71
- Marco Bezzecchi 68
- Jorge Martin 60
- Luca Marini 54
- Johann Zarco 50
- Maverick Vinales 49