MotoGP Sprint results as Jorge Martin wins at the French Grand Prix and Marc Marquez crashes

Add as preferred source on Google

Aprilia rider Jorge Martin won the Sprint Race at the 2026 MotoGP French Grand Prix, after a great start saw him beat Ducati ace Francesco Bagnaia at Le Mans on Saturday.

Martin made his rivals pay from the very start of the Le Mans Sprint, despite having qualified in only P8 earlier in the day. Bagnaia bagged pole position for the French GP with a 1:29.634, compared to Martin’s 1:29.847, but the Ducati ace could not reply to the Aprilia star’s speed.

Bagnaia at least put one Ducati on the Sprint podium at Le Mans, and in the top six, as Marc Marquez failed to build on his sensational qualifying to recover a great finish. Marquez’s day got a whole lot worse with a late crash, too, as the reigning champion highsided at Turn 13.

Jorge Martin fends off Francesco Bagnaia to win the Le Mans Sprint! Can he do the double in the French Grand Prix? 🇫🇷

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Jorge Martin wins the Le Mans Sprint at the 2026 MotoGP French Grand Prix

Francesco Bagnaia took pole for the French GP earlier on Saturday with a late dash to deny Ducati teammate Marc Marquez P1. But the Italian did not get a great launch off the line, as Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi flew ahead and Marquez initially looked to edge ahead of Bagnaia.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 French Grand Prix and Le Mans weather forecast

Marquez’s hopes for fighting at the front took an early blow at Turn 3, however, after he was baulked and dropped down the order. Fortunes were very contrasting for Jorge Martin, with a bit of ambition into T3 taking the Aprilia rider from P8 on the grid straight up into the lead.

Bezzecchi immediately started holding Bagnaia up in the fight for P2 as Martin started to get a bit of breathing space in the lead. Bagnaia did not ask for a second invite to pass his Italian compatriot, though, as the Aprilia star made a mistake and ran very deep at Turn 7 on Lap 3.

Marquez’s misery also started to gather more momentum in the early laps, as Pedro Acosta, Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir all made their way past the reigning champion. Luca Marini’s Sprint on the other Honda was already over by Lap 2, after he and Jonas Folger crashed out.

A crash also made a sorry Sprint at Le Mans even worse for VR46 ace Fabio Di Giannantonio, having plummeted nine positions with a poor start before he found the gravel on Lap 4/13. While Di Giannantonio re-joined, teammate Franco Morbidelli crashed at Turn 13 on Lap 7.

After Folger’s early incident with Marini on his stand-in outing with Maverick Vinales ruled out through injury, Tech3 also suffered a double DNF in the Le Mans Sprint. Enea Bastianini found the gravel on Lap 6, to leave works ace Pedro Acosta as the only KTM rider delivering.

Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez added his name to the list of riders to crash during the Sprint at Le Mans while in P10. But the biggest crash of the Le Mans Sprint went to Marquez, after his violent, late highside at Turn 13 when his front tyre regripped as he tried to save a slide.

Full Le Mans Sprint Race results at the 2026 French GP