MotoGP 2026 season: French Grand Prix, sprint race, report, Jack Miller, Marc Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi, Johann Zarco
Jorge Martin has used a stunning start to storm from eighth place into the lead to win the sprint race at the French Grand Prix on Saturday, the 2024 MotoGP champion winning his third sprint in four years at Le Mans as reigning world champion Marc Marquez suffered another violent crash.
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Martin, riding for Aprilia, missed last year’s French Grand Prix with injury, but made immediate amends with a remarkable start from the third row of the grid, overtaking Ducati teammates Marquez and pole-sitter Francesco Bagnaia, and his own teammate Marco Bezzecchi, around the outside to lead into the first chicane.
The Spaniard led by over one second after just three laps, and was untroubled from there to eventually run out a 1.1-second winner over Bagnaia, with Bezzecchi rounding out the podium, 2.786secs from victory.
Martin’s victory, his second in five sprints this year after he won in Texas in round three, was his record 18th sprint win in all, and sliced his deficit to Bezzecchi to six points atop the MotoGP standings.
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“I struggled a bit in qualifying, but I knew my potential was much higher,” Martin said.
“I put all my determination into the start, I didn’t expect to be in first position in the second corner, but from that point I just pushed like in the past, like what I am used to.”
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Martin, Bagnaia and Bezzecchi ran in the top three places for the entire 13-lap duration, while Marquez, who had come through Q1 and broken the circuit record before qualifying second, had dropped to seventh before a violent high-side at the final corner on the penultimate lap, the seven-time world champion now falling 51 points behind series leader Bezzecchi.
Marquez returned to the pits with a notable limp after the spill, which came after he crashed out of the most recent Grand Prix at Jerez on the second lap.
Australia’s Jack Miller, who qualified 19th for Yamaha, finished 17.603secs behind Martin in 15th place, the 31-year-old still searching for his first points of the 2026 season.
The 27-lap French Grand Prix, round five of MotoGP’s 22-round 2026 season, will take place at 10pm (AEST) on Sunday.
