MotoGP French GP: Marco Bezzecchi from VR46 Wins 1,000GP Race at Le Mans
Marco Bezzecchi of VR46 Ducati dominated the MotoGP French Grand Prix, which saw the elimination of championship leader Francesco Bagnaia after a series of crashes. Marquez crashed late in a bout with Pramac's Jorge Martin, promoting local hero Johann Zarco to third place.
Although Bezzecchi was one of the riders who had to get his elbows out in the midst of the struggle throughout the race, he was also the only rider to retain forward momentum and take the lead on lap 11 before charging to a decisive victory. Bezzecchi's second victory of the year ended a disappointing stretch of performances, while his championship challenger Bagnaia's weekend finished with him tumbling into the gravel again after a nasty collision with Maverick Vinales. Not only did they have problems, but so did Luca Marini and Alex Marquez, who had a bizarre collision on the exit of turn 3. Marc Marquez, who broke his thumb in the MotoGP season opener in Portimao, returned to action this weekend, only to crash in the closing stage of the race. All three Ducati riders finished in the top three: Pramac Ducati's Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco, and Tech3 Racing's home race rookie Augusto Fernandez, who finished fourth to give GasGas its highest result ever.
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MotoGP French GP: Race Result
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Gap |
| 1 | Marco Bezzecchi | Ducati | |
| 2 | Jorge Martín | Ducati | +4.256s |
| 3 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | +4.795s |
| 4 | A.Fernández | KTM | +6.281s |
| 5 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia | +6.726s |
| 6 | Brad Binder | KTM | +13.638s |
| 7 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | +15.023s |
| 8 | F.Di Giannantonio | Ducati | +15.826s |
| 9 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | +16.370s |
| 10 | F.Morbidelli | Yamaha | +17.828s |
| 11 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | +29.735s |
| 12 | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia | +36.135s |
| 13 | Jonas Folger | KTM | +49.808s |
| 14 | Marc Márquez | Honda | Crash |
| 15 | Jack Miller | KTM | Crash |
| 16 | Alex Rins | Honda | Crash |
| 17 | Joan Mir | Honda | Crash |
| 18 | Luca Marini | Ducati | Crash |
| 19 | Álex Márquez | Ducati | Crash |
| 20 | F.Bagnaia | Ducati | Crash |
| 21 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia | Crash |
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MotoGP French GP: Marc Marquez’s Late Crash
Marc Marquez, who suffered a delicate thumb fracture when he lost control during braking and crashed with Miguel Oliveira in the MotoGP season opening in Portimao, made his comeback to action this weekend only to crash out in the ending stage of the race.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! @marcmarquez93 throws away a podium!#FrenchGP pic.twitter.com/v82UAX0MAL
— MotoGP (@MotoGP) May 14, 2023
All hell broke loose for Marquez with just two laps to go. He lost control of his bike and spun off of the Le Musee hairpin, handing second place to Martin as the Honda squad watched in dismay from the garage. This benefitted Zarco, as he moved up to third and stayed there until the conclusion, giving the Pramac Team a second podium result.
Earlier this week, the MotoGP Court of Appeal also ruled that Marquez would not have to serve the double Long lap penalty he incurred for triggering that incident, having dismissed the FIM Stewards' effort to transfer the punishment from 'Argentina' to Marquez's next race back.
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