Jorge Martin returns to winning ways as Aprilia sweep Le Mans podium in France
Updated:
1 Comments
Andrew McLarneyMotoGP Reporter
Andrew McLarney is an accredited MotoGP reporter with four years experience as a professional writer across the sports and video game industries. His experience as a K1 Premier League competitor evolved into a fascination with all forms of combat sport and eventually motorsport — with MotoGP becoming his primary focus. On top of that he is also an avid follower of MXGP and AMA Supercross/Motocross.
Aprilia's incredible start to 2026 continued in Le Mans as Jorge Martin claimed his first Sunday victory at the Italian team, beating championship leader Marco Bezzecchi in a head-to-head.
Having qualified on the third row of the grid, Martin backed up his Saturday sprint victory with a spectacular performance, carving his way through the field and hunting down his teammate in the later stages before passing with a clinical, precise overtake.
Ai Ogura claimed his first podium in the premier class to complete a clean sweep of the podium for Aprilia. He becomes the first Japanese rider since Nakasuga in 2012.
Without Marc Marquez, Ducati's disastrous start to 2026 was compounded when Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of P2, despite qualifying on pole and looking competitive throughout the weekend.
Home hero Fabio Quartararo put in a very honourable performance, battling with the faster bikes and managing an incredible P6 finish after spending the early stages of the race in the podium places. He was the highest placed Yamaha by a considerable distance, but it was a solid weekend overall for the Japanese team as all four riders finished in the points for the first time this year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pedro Acosta also had another good performance and was unlucky to be passed on the final lap by Di Giannantonio. He was the highest-placed KTM, though Bastianini continued his good form in P7.
Honda had a relatively lacklustre weekend overall with Marini highest-placed in P10. Diogo Moreira had his first Sunday crash but was fortunately okay after the incident.
MotoGP French Grand Prix Race Results
| Position | Rider (Team) | Time/Gap |
| 1. | Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) | - |
| 2. | Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) | +0.477 |
| 3. | Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Racing) | +0.874 |
| 4. | Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46) | +2.851 |
| 5. | Pedro Acosta (KTM Factory Racing) | +2.991 |
| 6. | Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) | +7.756 |
| 7. | Enea Bastianini (KTM Tech3) | +8.615 |
| 8. | Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) | +12.497 |
| 9. | Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing) | +14.903 |
| 10. | Luca Marini (Honda HRC) | +15.016 |
| 11. | Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda) | +16.549 |
| 12. | Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha) | +32.343 |
| 13. | Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) | +32.476 |
| 14. | Franco Morbidelli (VR46) | +32.774 |
| 15. | Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) | +36.059 |
| 16. | Jonas Folger (KTM Tech3) | + 1 Lap |
| OUT | Brad Binder (KTM Factory Racing) | - |
| OUT | Joan Mir (Honda HRC) | - |
| OUT | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) | - |
| OUT | Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) | - |
| OUT | Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing) | - |
| DNS | Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo) | - |
Read also
ADVERTISEMENT
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google
