Jorge Martin delivered one of the rides of the season to win the French Grand Prix, charging from eighth on the grid to claim a stunning victory at Le Mans. In a dramatic finale, the Spaniard hunted down Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi in the closing laps before pulling off a daring late lunge with three laps to go — a move that sealed his first MotoGP win since 2024. Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura completed the podium in third, claiming the best result of his MotoGP career to date and rounding out an all-Aprilia top three.
The race was shaped early by Marc Marquez’s absence, the reigning world champion having fractured his foot in the Sprint and withdrawn from Sunday’s race entirely. Pole-sitter Pecco Bagnaia had designs on converting his front-row start into a race win, but a poor launch buried him in traffic as Bezzecchi swept into the lead. Martin, meanwhile, found himself boxed in after another blistering start and had to bide his time from seventh.
Bagnaia recovered well, fighting his way past Quartararo and Acosta to move into second and set his sights on Bezzecchi. He looked a genuine threat until his race came to a sudden end on lap 16, crashing out at the Dunlop chicane while running second and leaving the door wide open for Aprilia.
From that point, it was Martin’s race to chase. He methodically worked his way through the field, passing Acosta for second in the closing stages before setting his sights on Bezzecchi. Ogura was equally impressive, becoming the fastest man on track in the final laps and sweeping past Acosta on lap 23 to complete what became a historic Aprilia one-two-three.
Martin closed the gap to his teammate relentlessly and made his decisive move with three laps remaining — a trademark late-braking lunge that Bezzecchi had no answer to. The Spaniard held firm to take victory, while Bezzecchi settled for second and Ogura’s podium finish announced his arrival in the premier class in emphatic fashion. Di Giannantonio added a late highlight by picking off Acosta in the final corners to claim fourth, capping off a strong Sunday for the VR46 rider.
