Dominant Martin beats Binder to win Le Mans MotoGP sprint

Pramac Ducati MotoGP rider Jorge Martin dominated the French Grand Prix sprint at Le Mans.

It marked Martin’s first triumph in a MotoGP race since his rookie season in 2021, albeit a sprint victory doesn’t enter the record books as a full-on grand prix triumph.

A bold and forceful entry on the outside line into the Dunlop chicane on the opening lap allowed Martin to turn fifth on the grid into an immediate second place behind poleman Pecco Bagnaia, and he found himself in prime position to win the sprint as Bagnaia struggled.

Shadowing the championship leader in the early going, Martin sent it down Bagnaia’s inside into the Dunlop chicane on the fourth lap of 13, and pulled out an eighth-tenths lead over the rest of the lap.

That lead continued to grow as Bagnaia came under immediate pressure from Honda’s Marc Marquez and KTM’s Brad Binder, who had elevated himself into fourth place with a ruthless move on Luca Marini into Garage Vert.

And when Marquez sent it down the inside of Bagnaia into Dunlop, with Bagnaia sticking to the outside line and taking Marquez wide through the second part of the chicane, Binder got past both in one fell swoop and proceeded to break away.

👊 @marcmarquez93 wipes the nose of the World Champion! #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/2b2IT8F0U0

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2023

Marquez got the move done on Bagnaia at the same place a lap later, with Marini also taking advantage to move up to fourth – but Bagnaia then suddenly recovered his pace, swiftly repassing Marini and then sizing up Marquez for a counter-attack.

He eventually took care of the Honda on the brakes into Turn 1, going on to finish eight tenths behind Binder, who himself was 1.8s behind Martin at the chequered flag.

Binder is now Bagnaia’s closest rival in the standings, trailing him by 23 points.

Marini overtook Marquez for fourth place into the Dunlop chicane on the third-to-last lap, and fought him off over the final lap. Marquez therefore settled for fifth in the first race outing of the Kalex-built RC213V chassis.

Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco was the sole French rider finishing in the points and looked like he might attack Marquez late on, too, but a mistake forced him to settle for sixth.

VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro were roughing each other up in heated battle midway through the race, which neither seemed to particularly benefit from – the pair ending up seventh and eighth.

Bez with the WILDEST move into the Dunlop chicane! 🤯#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/26dkYk9Qee

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2023

Espargaro was briefly placed under investigation after contact with Alex Marquez through Chemin aux Boeufs that effectively took the latter out of points contention. However, the stewards swiftly declared that no further action would be taken.

The final point went to Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, his race effectively undone by losing five positions in the early stages.

Two injury stand-ins completed the finishers, with Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) 16th on his return ahead of Lorenzo Savadori (RNF Aprilia).

The Aussie is gone! 🛑@jackmilleraus crashes out of contention! 💥#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/ZFCuyB5MbZ

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2023

There were three crashes for KTM RC16s, the most costly one coming as Jack Miller slid off at the Museum corner while settling into third place early on. Also falling were the Gas Gas-branded Tech3 team-mate duo of Augusto Fernandez and Jonas Folger.

There is no relief at home! 😢@FabioQ20 is OUT of #TissotSprint! 💥#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/jssX1IKa1R

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2023

The only non-KTM to hit the deck was the Yamaha of Fabio Quartararo, down at Chemin aux Boeufs from eighth place.

Sprint Qualifying Results