MotoGP France: Martin Victorious as Marquez Beats Bagnaia on Last Lap

The fifth round of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship takes the series to the French GP this weekend, ahead of which Jorge Martin leads the riders' points

Marc Marquez leads Jack Miller, 2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix Sprint. - Gold and Goose

MotoGP arrives in Le Mans this weekend for the French Grand Prix, round five of the 2024 season. Although he crashed out of the lead at Jerez, Jorge Martin arrives in Le Mans with a 17-point championship lead over Francesco Bagnaia, the Spanish GP winner.

Overview

  • Grand Prix - Martin defeats Bagnaia, Marquez in late-race battle

  • Sprint - Martin dominates as Bagnaia retires, Marquez goes 13th-to-second

  • Qualifying - Jorge Martin sets first-ever 1:29 for Le Mans pole despite Q2 crash

  • Friday Practice - Martin fastest with the lap record, Marquez misses Q2

  • 2023 - Bezzecchi dominates as Bagnaia, Vinales collide

Grand Prix

Jorge Martin took his second Grand Prix victory of the season in France, converting from pole position ahead of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

It was Bagnaia who did most of the leading, though - he did so for 20 laps. Martin was never more than half-a-second behind, though, and made his first attack on lap 20 at turn three.

By this point the two were almost two seconds ahead of third place, but by lap 21 Marc Marquez was right with them. This was in part due to the battling between the two, but also down to Marquez’ exceptional late race pace.

Martin made his move stick at turn three on that 21st lap, but Bagnaia stuck on his rear tyre. The two were mostly inseparable around the lap, but Martin was clearly stronger in turn nine.

The similarity between the two meant that Bagnaia struggled to find a way back to the lead, and entered the final lap in second place.

Still looking for a way past Martin, Bagnaia’s victory chances were ended at turn nine when Marquez exposed Bagnaia’s weakness in that corner - where he crashed in Q2 - on the last lap to take second place.

This gave Martin a three-tenth lead that was impossible for Marquez to bridge before the end of the race, and so the #89 took his second win of the season in fine style.

Marquez defended the last sector perfectly from Bagnaia, who had to settle for third place, and falling to 38 points behind Martin in the championship.

Enea Bastianini took fourth place, ahead of Maverick Vinales on the Aprilia, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was the fifth Ducati inside the top six positions, and Franco Morbidelli the sixth in the top seven. Brad Binder was eighth after starting last, Aleix Espargaro fell to ninth after an incident with Enea Bastianini, and Alex Marquez rounded out the top 10.

Full MotoGP results from the French Grand Prix are below.

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Grand Prix Result

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Bugatti Circuit | Grand Prix Result | Rd 5/21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP24WIN
2Marc MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP230.446
3Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP240.585
4Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP242.206
5Maverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GP4.053
6Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP239.480
7Franco MorbidelliITAPramac RacingDucati GP249.868
8Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC1610.353
9Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP11.392
10Alex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP2313.442
11Raul FernandezESPTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP24.201
12Johann ZarcoFRACastrol Honda LCRHonda RC213V26.809
13Augusto FernandezESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC1627.426
14Takaaki NakagamiJAPIdemitsu Honda LCRHonda RC213V30.026
15Alex RinsESPMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M130.936
16Luca MariniITARepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V40.000
DNFPedro AcostaESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC16DNF
DNFJack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC16DNF
DNFFabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M1DNF
DNFMiguel OliveiraPORTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GPDNF
DNFMarco BezzecchiITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP23DNF
DNFJoan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213VDNF

Sprint

Jorge Martin won the MotoGP Sprint in France, leading lights-to-flag after an exceptional start from pole position.

While Martin nailed his start, Francesco Bagnaia went backwards from second on the grid. By the end of lap one, Bagnaia was 15th, and he retired after going wide at Museum on lap four.

Marc Marquez made a tremendous start and was sixth by the end of lap one. Cutting through some more riders and benefiting from others’ mistakes brought him up to second by the end, but two seconds adrift of Martin.

The closest anyone got to Martin was Marco Bezzecchi, who got to within half-a-second in the first half of the race, but he was over a second back before he crashed at turn nine.

Maverick Vinales was third, and was one of Marquez’ mid-race victims, but held off Enea Bastianini who went from 10th on the grid to finish fourth.

Aleix Espargaro was third off the line, but he’d jumped the start. A double long lap penalty dropped him to fifth.

Pedro Acosta took sixth place despite a huge front slide at the penultimate corner. He was ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio, Jack Miller, and Raul Fernandez who took the final point in ninth.

Full MotoGP results from the French Sprint are below.

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Sprint Result

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Bugatti Circuit | Sprint Result | Rd 5/21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP24WIN
2Marc MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP232.280
3Maverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GP4.174
4Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP244.798
5Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP7.698
6Pedro AcostaESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC169.185
7Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP2311.190
8Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC1611.516
9Raul FernandezESPTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP12.257
10Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M112.699
11Miguel OliveiraPORTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP13.492
12Franco MorbidelliITAPramac RacingDucati GP2415.578
13Johann ZarcoFRACastrol Honda LCRHonda RC213V16.439
14Alex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP2316.816
15Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC1616.969
16Takaaki NakagamiJAPIdemitsu Honda LCRHonda RC213V19.123
17Augusto FernandezESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC1623.618
18Luca MariniITARepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V27.854
DNFFrancesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP24DNF
DNFMarco BezzecchiITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP23DNF
DNFAlex RinsESPMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M1DNF
DNFJoan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213VDNF

Qualifying

Jorge Martin set the first ever 1:29 lap of Le Mans by a MotoGP bike to take pole position for the French Grand Prix.

Martin crashed on his second run of Q2, but the Pramac Ducati rider’s 1:29.919 from his first run was enough to keep him on pole.

Francesco Bagnaia was on course to take that away from Martin until he crashed himself at turn nine. Bagnaia nonetheless hung on to second place, securing his first front row of the season.

Maverick Vinales qualified third on the leading Aprilia, while the second RS-GP of Aleix Esaprgaro was sixth, behind the VR46 Ducatis of Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi on row two.

Pedro Acosta qualified seventh, ahead of home hero Fabio Quartararo on the Yamaha in eighth and Franco Morbidelli in ninth. 

Enea Bastianini was on course for pole position when yellow flags for Bagnaia’s turn nine crash cancelled his lap. Mechanical issues then ended Bastianini’s session early and he finished 10th, ahead of Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira.

Marc Marquez failed to make Q2 through Q1, after a front slide between turns two and three cost him his penultimate lap, and a crash for Johann Zarco brought out yellow flags to cancel his final lap. Marquez will start 13th, which is at least better than for Brad Binder, who qualified last.

Full MotoGP results from qualifying and he pre-qualifying FP2 in Le Mans are below.

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Qualifying Result

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Bugatti Circuit | Qualifying Result | Rd 5/21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP241:29.919
2Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP241:30.111
3Maverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GP1:30.313
4Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP231:30.436
5Marco BezzecchiITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP231:30.553
6Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP1:30.572
7Pedro AcostaESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC161:30.650
8Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:30.686
9Franco MorbidelliITAPramac RacingDucati GP241:30.782
10Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP241:30.786
11Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:31.007
12Miguel OliveiraPORTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP1:31.075
13Marc MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP231:30..586
14Raul FernandezESPTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP1:30.676
15Johann ZarcoFRACastrol Honda LCRHonda RC213V1:30.891
16Alex RinsESPMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:31.067
17Alex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP231:31.148
18Joan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:31.186
19Takaaki NakagamiJAPIdemitsu Honda LCRHonda RC213V1:31.274
20Augusto FernandezESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC161:31.473
21Luca MariniITARepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:31.837
22Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:32.228

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | FP2 Result

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Bugatti Circuit | FP2 Result | Rd 5/21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Maverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GP1:31.033
2Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP241:31.105
3Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP241:31.236
4Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP241:31.249
5Alex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP231:31.266
6Marc MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP231:31.343
7Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP1:31.386
8Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:31.399
9Raul FernandezESPTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP1:31.403
10Franco MorbidelliITAPramac RacingDucati GP241:31.419
11Pedro AcostaESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC161:31.427
12Augusto FernandezESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC161:31.427
13Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP231:31.443
14Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:31.466
15Miguel OliveiraPORTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP1:31.556
16Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:31.678
17Marco BezzecchiITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP231:31.684
18Takaaki NakagamiJAPIdemitsu Honda LCRHonda RC213V1:31.692
19Joan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:31.813
20Alex RinsESPMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:32.054
21Johann ZarcoFRACastrol Honda LCRHonda RC213V1:32.085
22Luca MariniITARepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:32.775

 


Friday Practice

Jorge Martin was fastest in both FP1 and Practice on Friday in Le Mans. The Spanish rider set a 1:30.388 on Friday afternoon to take the lap record with him into Saturday.

Francesco Bagnaia was second-fastest. Bagnaia’s final lap looked on course to take the fastest time of the day away from Martin, but he ran wide in the penultimate corner, and so he remained 0.145 seconds shy of the Pramac Racing rider.

The best KTM rider was once again GasGas’ Pedro Acosta in third, while Aprilia’s best representative was Maverick Vinales in fourth place.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was fifth-fastest, ahead of Jack Miller in sixth, Aleix Espargaro in seventh, Franco Morbidelli in eighth, and Marco Bezzecchi in ninth.

Behind, a 1:30.788 was enough to put Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo in the top 10 and directly through to Q2 in front of his home fans.

Of course, Marc Marquez therefore missed out, finishing 13th after a messy time attack from the eight-times champion. In a similar vein, Brad Binder missed out on Q2 after crashing three times on Friday, including twice in Practice.

Full MotoGP results from FP1 and Practice in France are below.

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | PR Result

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Bugatti Circuit | PR Result | Rd 5/21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP241:30.388
2Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP241:30.533
3Pedro AcostaESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC161:30.575
4Maverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GP1:30.657
5Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP231:30.683
6Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:30.699
7Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP1:30.714
8Franco MorbidelliITAPramac RacingDucati GP241:30.763
9Marco BezzecchiITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP231:30.785
10Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:30.788
11Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP241:30.798
12Raul FernandezESPTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP1:30.839
13Marc MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP231:31.067
14Alex RinsESPMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:31.206
15Miguel OliveiraPORTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP1:31.219
16Augusto FernandezESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC161:31.243
17Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:31.364
18Joan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:31.521
19Alex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP231:31.530
20Johann ZarcoFRACastrol Honda LCRHonda RC213V1:31.574
21Luca MariniITARepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:31.860
22Takaaki NakagamiJAPIdemitsu Honda LCRHonda RC213V1:32.131

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | FP1 Result

2024 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Bugatti Circuit | FP1 Result | Rd 5/21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP241:31.421
2Pedro AcostaESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC161:31.658
3Maverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GP1:31.678
4Enea BastianiniITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP241:31.837
5Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP241:31.852
6Alex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP231:31.896
7Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP1:31.911
8Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:31.942
9Marc MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP231:31.971
10Marco BezzecchiITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP231:31.980
11Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:32.035
12Franco MorbidelliITAPramac RacingDucati GP241:32.070
13Alex RinsESPMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:32.112
14Raul FernandezESPTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP1:32.221
15Miguel OliveiraPORTrackhouse RacingAprilia RS-GP1:32.286
16Johann ZarcoFRACastrol Honda LCRHonda RC213V1:32.403
17Augusto FernandezESPRed Bull GasGas Tech3KTM RC161:32.433
18Fabio Di GiannantonioITAPertamina Enduro VR46Ducati GP231:32.546
19Takaaki NakagamiJAPIdemitsu Honda LCRHonda RC213V1:32.585
20Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:32.698
21Joan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:33.008
22Luca MariniITARepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:33.350

2023

2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Circuit Bugatti | Grand Prix Results

2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Circuit Bugatti | Grand Prix Results | Round 5 / 21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Racing TeamDucati GP22WIN
2Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP234.256
3Johann ZarcoFRAPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP234.795
4Augusto FernandezESPGasGas Tech 3 Factory RacingKTM RC166.281
5Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP6.726
6Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC1613.638
7Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M115.023
8Fabio Di GiannantonioITAGresini RacingDucati GP2215.826
9Takaaki NakagamiJAPLCR Honda IdemitsuHonda RC213V16.370
10Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M117.828
11Danilo PetrucciITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP2329.735
12Lorenzo SavadoriITACryptoData RNF Racing ApriliaAprilia RS-GP36.135
13Jonas FolgerGERGasGas Tech 3 Factory RacingKTM RC1649.808
DNFFrancesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP23DNF
DNFLuca MariniITAMooney VR46 Racing TeamDucati GP22DNF
DNFMarc MarquezESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213VDNF
DNFMaverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GPDNF
DNFAlex RinsESPLCR Honda CastrolHonda RC213VDNF
DNFJoan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213VDNF
DNFAlex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP22DNF
DNFJack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC16DNF

2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Circuit Bugatti | Sprint Results

2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Circuit Bugatti | Sprint Results | Round 5 / 21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP23WIN
2Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161.840
3Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP232.632
4Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Racing TeamDucati GP223.418
5Marc MarquezESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V3.541
6Johann ZarcoFRAPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP234.483
7Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Racing TeamDucati GP225.224
8Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP6.359
9Maverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GP8.336
10Takaaki NakagamiJAPLCR Honda IdemitsuHonda RC213V9.439
11Alex RinsESPLCR Honda CastrolHonda RC213V12.388
12Fabio Di GiannantonioITAGresini RacingDucati GP2214.125
13Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M115.121
14Joan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V15.383
15Alex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP2215.591
16Danilo PetrucciITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP2319.415
17Lorenzo SavadoriITACryptoData RNF Racing ApriliaAprilia RS-GP26.992
DNFJack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC16DNF
DNFAugusto FernandezESPGasGas Tech 3 Factory RacingKTM RC16DNF
DNFFabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M1DNF
DNFJonas FolgerGERGasGas Tech 3 Factory RacingKTM RC16DNF

2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Circuit Bugatti | Qualifying Results

2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Circuit Bugatti | Qualifying Results | Round 5 / 21
PosRiderNat.MotoGP TeamMotoGP BikeTiming
1Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP231:30.705
2Marc MarquezESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:30.763
3Luca MariniITAMooney VR46 Racing TeamDucati GP221:30.842
4Jack MillerAUSRed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:30.984
5Jorge MartinESPPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP231:31.023
6Maverick VinalesESPAprilia RacingAprila RS-GP1:31.120
7Marco BezzecchiITAMooney VR46 Racing TeamDucati GP221:31.173
8Alex MarquezESPGresini RacingDucati GP221:31.275
9Johann ZarcoFRAPrima Pramac RacingDucati GP231:31.298
10Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM Factory RacingKTM RC161:31.445
11Aleix EspargaroESPAprilia RacingAprilia RS-GP1:31.523
12Augusto FernandezESPGasGas Tech 3 Factory RacingKTM RC161:31.596
13Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:31.366
14Takaaki NakagamiJAPLCR Honda IdemitsuHonda RC213V1:31.545
15Fabio Di GiannantonioITAGresini RacingDucati GP221:31.718
16Joan MirESPRepsol Honda TeamHonda RC213V1:31.810
17Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Energy YamahaYamaha YZR-M11:31.886
18Alex RinsESPLCR Honda CastrolHonda RC213V1:31.959
19Danilo PetrucciITADucati Lenovo TeamDucati GP231:32.092
20Lorenzo SavadoriITACryptoData RNF Racing ApriliaAprilia RS-GP1:32.410
21Jonas FolgerGERGasGas Tech 3 Factory RacingKTM RC16

1:33.605

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