Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez continued his streak of winning every Sprint Race to kick off the 2025 MotoGP season at the French Grand Prix to also claim the lead of the championship.
The 32-year-old arrived at Le Mans trailing his 29-year-old brother Alex Marquez by a single point in the riders’ standings. But the title fight has swung back towards Marc Marquez after the Ducati ace led his Gresini star sibling home in first and second place in Saturday’s Sprint.
Two points now separate them, and the Marquez brothers have also moved clear at the top of the rankings after Ducati ace Francesco Bagnaia crashed in the Le Mans Sprint to slip to a 31-point deficit. It also marks the first time this term that Bagnaia has failed to finish a race.
Marc Marquez proved he learned from crashing in how he fought Fabio Quartararo at Le Mans
Yamaha rival Fabio Quartararo beat Marquez to pole at the French GP after setting a new lap record for Le Mans earlier on Saturday morning. Yet the 0.118-second margin that split them in Q2 could not prevent the Spaniard from passing the home hero on Lap 6/13 of the Sprint.
Marquez knew he had a pace advantage over Quartararo and almost used the extra grunt of his V4 Ducati engine to overtake the Yamaha rider around his outside at Turn 1 on L5. But he chose to back off and bide his time, and would also only have to wait another lap and a half.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marc Marquez from net worth to girlfriend
A clearer chance to jump the Cannes native presented itself to Marquez into Turn 5, and he made no mistake to pass Quartararo and stretch clear. How the Cervera native battled also showed Neil Hodgson he learned a lesson after Marquez crashed in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Hodgson said on TNT Sports 2 (10/05, 14:09): “You would like to think the eight-time world champion learned from his mistake.
“That was exactly what happened last time out in Jerez, trying to force it on Lap 4 of a 20-odd lap race. It was a big mistake, and he’s definitely learned from that.”
Marc Marquez’s Le Mans Sprint win spells even more trouble for Francesco Bagnaia after his first DNF of 2025
Marquez crashed out of the Spanish GP two weeks ago when trying to push through Turn 7 and use one of his strongest corners to stay with Quartararo and Bagnaia. It saw his brother take back the championship lead, too, as Alex Marquez won his first MotoGP race at Jerez.
But the six-time MotoGP champion was much calmer in his fight with Quartararo at Le Mans this Saturday. And it spells even more trouble for Bagnaia that Marquez only required a two-week break to learn from his mistake at Jerez and immediately stay calmer during his battle.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Francesco Bagnaia from net worth to race number
The French GP may only be the sixth of 22 rounds, but Bagnaia now trails his Ducati partner Marquez by 31 points in the standings. It is a margin that the Italian will also likely fear may grow this Sunday, as Marquez bids for a fourth Grand Prix win to add to his sixth Sprint win.
Two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia will need to charge from sixth on the grid and put his Le Mans Sprint crash in the past if he is to bounce back this Sunday. But Quartararo refuses to rule out Bagnaia winning the French GP after the pace he produced in practice on Friday.
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