MotoGP France Results, Grand Prix - Domination, Capitalisation, Dramatisation

MotoGP arrives in Le Mans this weekend for the French Grand Prix, round five of the 2023 season. Francesco Bagnaia goes to France as the World Championship leader after winning two weeks ago in Spain. This page will be updated with MotoGP France results throughout the weekend.

Overview

Grand Prix - Dominant Bezzcchi capitalises on atritional French GP

Sprint - Martin takes first Sprint win as Bagnaia battles back against Marquez

Qualifying - Bagnaia steals pole late from Marquez

P2 - Miller on top again as Quartararo misses Q2

P1 - Miller continues KTM form with time-topping P1 performance

Grand Prix

The 2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix saw an attritional race from which Marco Bezzecchi emerged the winner.

Jack Miller made the best start from the riders on the front two rows. This was unsurprising, considering the form off the line of the KTM RC16 since the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago. Nonetheless, it was Marc Marquez who made the holeshot, while Miller was second, ahead of Luca Marini. 

From pole position, Francesco Bagnaia got boxed out in turn two, and then boxed in at turn three, as he dropped to fifth. Before the end of the first lap, which was led by Marquez, Bagnaia was back up to fourth, past Jorge Martin.

At turn eight on lap two, Martin went straight as Bagnaia passed Marini for third. The #89’s apparent error (Marco Bezzecchi also went wide but it was not clear from the TV shots whether the two were connected, Bezzecchi dropped to seventh) dropped him to 10th. 

Jack Miller deposed Marquez from the lead on lap three at the Dunlop Chicane, but the immediate signs were that he had no pace to escape Marquez.

On lap five, Vinales was on the move. He passed Marini in turns three and four, and then made a move on Bagnaia at turn 11. Between turns 11 and 12, their lines converged, and they both fell. Then, they tried to have a small fight, despite it clearly being a racing incident. By the time they arrived back in the paddock, they had seemed to settle their differences.

Half-a-lap later, Luca Marini cut the kerb too tight in turn four, lost the front, and, as he tried to save it, was collected by Alex Marquez. They both fell, and again it was a racing incident.

Marco Bezzecchi, on lap seven, tried to pass Marc Marquez at turn eight. However, he ran both of them wide, and was then told to drop a position, which dropped him to third behind Jorge Martin (who had benefited from the chaos after his aforementioned turn eight excursion to rise to third), a position he reclaimed when Martin ran wide in turn five on lap 10.

By this point, Bezzecchi was looking to be the strongest rider on track. He was fast, and he could pass, and soon he passed Miller for the lead, which immediately sparked some urgency within Marquez, who took second place later on the same lap at turn nine.

While Bezzecchi imposed his pace at the front - his gap was one second by the end of lap 12 - Marquez began to escape from Miller, who was now under pressure from Martin, Johann Zarco, Augusto Fernandez, Aleix Espargaro on the sole remaining factory Aprilia, and his own Red Bull KTM teammate, Brad Binder, who was recovering, along with Zarco, from being shoved wide on the first lap by Alex Marquez.

By lap 16, Miller’s rear tyre woes were becoming increasingly dramatic. He had fallen behind Zarco and Fernandez, and Espargaro was past him on lap 17.

Miller was offered a reprieve on lap 21, because Binder got a long lap penalty for cutting the turn 9-10 chicane and not losing enough time. 

At the same time, though, the pressure was mounting on Marc Marquez from Jorge Martin. It took Martin a few attempts, but he finally made a move stick on lap 26 at turn six, Marquez crashing as his compatriot slipped through on the inside.

That put Zarco on the podium at his home race, behind a dominant Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, meaning that the podium was completely filled by satellite Ducati riders for the second time in 2023, after the Argentinian Grand Prix - also won by Bezzecchi.

Behind the customer Ducati trio was Augusto Fernandez in an incredible fourth place at his Tech 3 GasGas team’s home race (the second one in a row, if you like), while Aleix Espargaro was fifth.

Brad Binder eventually got the better of his teammate, Miller, and finished sixth, although that was in large part down to Miller crashing out at turn four. Behind Binder was the top Japanese bike of Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha in seventh, while Fabio Di Giannantonio (8th), Takaaki Nakagami (9th, sole surviving Honda), and Franco Morbidelli (10th) completed the top 10.

Full MotoGP France results from the Grand Prix in Le Mans are below.

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

Sprint

Francesco Bagnaia started from pole position for the MotoGP Sprint in Le Mans, but it was Jorge Martin who took the race win.

From pole position, Francesco Bagnaia made a good launch, and he made the holeshot ahead of the KTM of Jack Miller, although the Australian was passed between turns three and four by Jorge Martin, while Marc Marquez was fourth from second on the grid.

By the end of the first lap, the front six had a break on the rest of the field, although that was reduced to five at turn six on lap two, as Jack Miller crashed.

That left Bagnaia, Martin, Marquez, Brad Binder, and Luca Marini to fight for the lead, although by lap three Marini was beginning to be detached.

Martin passed Bagnaia on lap four, and immediately disappeared, leaving Bagnaia to try to fend off Marquez. In his efforts to do so, Bagnaia lost out to Binder, who took second as Martin’s lead reached one second.

Marquez found his way past Bagnaia the following lap, and as Bagnaia tried to fight back he also lost out to Luca Marini, although only briefly.

Meanwhile, Martin was checked out at the front, and Binder was 1.5 seconds clear of third place.

Bagnaia finally regrouped on lap seven and got back into second place at turn two on lap 10, now seeming to be more comfortable with the performance of his Ducati. By the beginning of lap 11, Bagnaia had completely checked out in front of Marquez, who had now lost out to Marini, too.

Bagnaia, meanwhile, was trying to catch Binder. His deficit when he took second place from Marquez was over two seconds, and with two laps to go it was down to less than one second.

Ultimately, Bagnaia ran out of time to catch Binder, who took second place behind a dominant Jorge Martin, who saw a chequered flag first for the first time since the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix. 

Third place for Bagnaia meant he extended his points lead by one point from 22 points to 23, but the chaser is now Binder, who confirmed his Sprint credentials with a third podium in the last four half-distance races. 

Luca Marini took fourth place, ahead of Marc Marquez, the top Honda in fifth, the second one coming down in 10th place wearing the #30 of Takaaki Nakagami.

Between Marquez and Nakagami were Johann Zarco (6th), Marco Bezzecchi (7th), Aleix Espargaro (8th, top Aprilia), and Maverick Vinales (9th).

Fabio Quartararo crashed out of eighth place on lap 10.

Full MotoGP Sprint results from Le Mans are below.

2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Circuit Bugatti | Sprint Results

Qualifying

Despite early morning rain on Saturday, MotoGP qualifying for the French Grand Prix took place in dry conditions. Francesco Bagnaia took pole position for this weekend’s two races.

Fabio Quartararo, both for his status as a former MotoGP World Champion and as a favoured rider of many of the French fans, was the biggest name in Q1. He came through Friday practice in 12th place, and with zero guarantees of advancing to Q2 having struggled all weekend for one-lap speed in particular. 

Despite the lack of guarantees, Quartararo’s pace in Q1 was exceptional. A 1:31.366 put the former World Champion on top in the first half of the session, over 0.4 seconds ahead of Luca Marini.

In the end, though, Quartararo lost out in the second run to both Marini and Augusto Fernandez, who made it through to Q2, while Quartararo qualified only 13th.

In Q2, the early pace came from Maverick Vinales, who led Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin at the end of his first run. 

The second run began in disaster, though, for the #12 Aprilia, which suffered some kind of technical issue as he left pit lane. Vinales had to be pushed back down pit lane (by SIC58 Squadra Corse rider Ricciardo Rossi of all people), and he had to swap to his second bike.

Second before Vinales headed back out on track, his teammate, Aleix Espargaro, crashed at turn one at the beginning of the first flying lap of his second Q2 run. Fortunately, Espargaro was able to walk away from the incident.

It looked as though Marc Marquez was going to take pole position. The clock had hit zero by the time he set his fastest lap of the session to take provisional pole, but he was denied by Francesco Bagnaia with one of the final laps of the session. Things became more complicated for Marquez when he suffered a technical issue on his practice start following the conclusion of Q2. Either way, the #93 will start second for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix. 

Marquez will sit between two Ducati riders, with Bagnaia ahead of him on pole, and Luca Marini behind him in third place.

Jack Miller was probably the favourite to take pole position going into the session, having been the only rider in the 1:30s on Friday. He missed out on the front row, though, possibly in part due to catching Augusto Fernandez at the end of his final flying lap. Miller will start fourth, ahead of Jorge Martin (5th) and Maverick Vinales (6th) on the second row. 

Marco Bezzecchi, who had perhaps the best race pace in P2 on Friday afternoon, qualified seventh, alongside two other satellite Ducati riders in Alex Marquez (8th) and Johann Zarco (9th), giving echoes of the Argentinian Grand Prix.

On row four, Brad Binder will have a hard time making the holeshot, even with the KTM’s lightning starts, from 10th place. He will start alongside Aleix Espargaro (11th) and Augusto Fernandez, who finished 12th in his first MotoGP Q2.

Full MotoGP France results from qualifying at Le Mans are below.

2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix | Circuit Bugatti | Qualifying Results

P2

P2 in Le Mans was an attritional session, despite continued dry conditions. In the end, Jack Miller dealt with the conditions the best to go fastest.

In just the first 15 minutes of MotoGP P2, Franco Morbidelli, Lorenzo Savadori, Joan Mir, Augusto Fernandez, Aleix Espargaro, and Alex Marquez all crashed. It then calmed down a bit, but only in time for heavy clouds to gather overhead. The wind also picked up, and rain was beginning to seriously threaten.

That threat never really materialised, though, which was to the benefit of riders like Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez, who were both outside of the top 10 after P1. 

Quartararo was one of the first riders to go for a time attack in P2, and he went up to fifth place. Soon, he was dropped to sixth, as Brad Binder went fastest, making a provisional KTM 1-2.

These two laps were important for Francesco Bagnaia, as they bumped him out of the top 10. The reigning champion had not looked happy throughout P2, and was 17th-fastest in the afternoon session before he went for a time attack, and, when he did, he let Marc Marquez distract him.

That meant Bagnaia’s final run was essential ‘all-or-nothing’, and, although it delivered very little, the ninth place that Bagnaia found on his final lap was enough for a Q2 spot.

He was ahead of Alex Marquez in 10th place, but Bagnaia was half-a-second behind Jack Miller, who completed a perfect Friday in which he topped both sessions and was the only rider to lap faster than 1:31.

Behind Miller were Aleix Espargaro (2nd, top Aprilia), Marco Bezzecchi (3rd, top Ducati), Jorge Martin (4th), Johann Zarco (5th), Maverick Vinales (6th), Brad Binder (7th), and Marc Marquez (8th, top Japanese bike, top Honda), before we come back to Bagnaia.

Fabio Quartararo was unable to do anything about the top 10, and he finished Friday in 12th, albeit half-a-second faster than his factory Yamaha teammate, Franco Morbidelli.

Full MotoGP P2 results from Le Mans are below.

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

P1

The skies over Le Mans were deceptively blue on Friday morning for MotoGP P1. Despite the sun, the temperatures were relatively low, but the conditions remained stable and dry. Jack Miller was fastest, and he leads the way into this afternoon’s P2 session.

Although the conditions did remain stable, the relatively low temperatures saw a couple of crashes or off-track moments. Francesco Bagnaia, for example, ran into the gravel in turn 12, and Marc Marquez, making his return to MotoGP this weekend with Repsol Honda, crashed at the same corner.

Luca Marini topped the times early on, ahead of his VR46 Ducati teammate Marco Bezzecchi, but Marini was replaced at the top by Bagnaia when the reigning champion emerged from the pits following his turn 12 excursion. 

Towards the end of the session, and with a very-used soft-compound front tyre and a new soft-compound rear tyre, Fabio Quartararo hit the top, but he was soon bumped down the order as the VR46 Ducatis resumed their places in the top three, and Jack Miller went fastest.

The Australian stayed there until the end, and he was joined in the top three by his factory KTM teammate, Brad Binder. The two factory RC16s had spent most of the session outside the top 10, but when the time attack period of P1 began they were the riders who improved the most.

Luca Marini stayed sandwiched between Miller and Binder in second place, while Johann Zarco was fourth, ahead of Alex Marquez and an encouraging Joan Mir - sixth in first practice at arguably his worst circuit.

Aleix Espargaro was seventh, while Maverick Vinales on the second factory Aprilia was ninth. Both were running the rear wing, and the fork wings that debuted at the preseason test in Portimao. Between the two factory Aprilias was Marco Bezzecchi in eighth, while Francesco Bagnaia rounded out the top 10 with a late lap to lift him up from a lowly 16th.

Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez were first and second, respectively, at the beginning of the time attacks, but ended 11th and 12th, respectively.

Similarly, Augusto Fernandez had been inside the top three at times in P1, but finished 14th, and Jorge Martin, once second, finished 16th.

Raul Fernandez arrived to Le Mans off the back of arm pump surgery. It was not certain whether he would be able to complete the weekend, and after only a couple of laps in P1 he had decided to call time on his weekend, and focus on Mugello at the beginning of June. This means that the RNF Aprilia team has neither of its full-time riders with it this weekend in France, as Lorenzo Savadori has been drafted in to replace Miguel Oliveira as the Portuguese rider recovers from the injuries he sustained in the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Full MotoGP France results from P1 in Le Mans are below.

2023 MotoGP France Results | Circuit Bugatti | P1

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