Marquez untouchable as Dovizioso holds off Petrucci

Full French MotoGP race results

Marc Marquez has produced another flawless performance to claim his third victory of the season to extend his MotoGP world championship lead over Andrea Dovizioso who held off Ducati team-mate Danilo Petrucci for second place.

The Repsol Honda rider found the perfect getaway from pole position to lead the opening laps before coming under unrelenting pressure from Jack Miller. The Australian rider briefly darted into the lead with a move up the inside at Turn 3 on Lap 5 but Marquez returned the favour two laps later at the same corner before pulling clear.

Setting an untouchable race pace, Marquez pushed ahead almost at will to build up a healthy lead before controlling his advantage to secure his 47th career MotoGP win and Honda’s 300th victory in the premier class.

Further back an all-Ducati battle developed between Dovizioso and Petrucci, with Miller fading to fourth place, and despite some bold dives up the inside by Petrucci he couldn’t find a route into second place.

Miller kept his Pramac Ducati in fourth place ahead of Valentino Rossi despite a strong late race pace, meaning the nine-time world champion had to settle for fifth on the Monster Yamaha.

Pol Espargaro put in a standout performance for Red Bull KTM with sixth place – the Austrian brand’s best-ever dry race result in MotoGP – and under seven seconds behind race-winner Marquez at the chequered flag.

With Franco Morbidelli in seventh place, his Petronas Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo produced an eye-catching recovery ride at his home race. The 20-year-old ran wide at Turn 8 on the opening lap which saw him drop to the bottom of the points places but he regained his composure to take eighth place with a late pass on LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow.

Alex Rins had a similar charge through the order after qualifying in 19th place, with the Suzuki rider taking 10th place at the finish, ahead of Repsol Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo who dropped down the order in the second half of the race.

Aleix Espargaro continued his points run in 12th place for Aprilia ahead of KTM trio Johann Zarco, Hafizh Syahrin and Miguel Oliveira who completed the points positions.

It was a nightmare warm-up lap for both Joan Mir and Karel Abraham as they lost control of the front of their bikes at Turn 3 in separate incidents. Both sprinted back to the pits to start the race from pit lane on their second bikes, with Mir finishing in 16th place, but Abraham was black flagged for failing to start the race before the leaders ended Lap 1.

On Lap 7 Francesco Bagnaia lost control of his Pramac Ducati which saw him take out Maverick Vinales at Turn 12, the second time in four races the Monster Yamaha rider has been crashed into by another rider following his hit from Morbidelli on the last lap in Argentina.

Tito Rabat and Andrea Iannone retired from the race with separate technical issues, while Takaaki Nakagami crashed out late on.