Giannantonio, Franco Morbidelli
(Prima Pramac Ducati), Binder,
Espargaro and Alex Marquez
(Gresini Racing MotoGP) round-
ing out the top 10.
In the championship points,
Martin
leads on 129 to Bag-
naia's 91 and Marquez is tied for
third
with Bastianini on 89.
MOTO2
Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets -
MSI) returned to his winning
ways at Le Mans, taking back
the championship lead in the
process. It was an MT Helmets
- MSI one-two after a serious
charge from Ai Ogura, who
carved through the field from
17th on the grid, with Alonso
Lopez (Folladore SpeedUp)
defending from erstwhile cham
-
Bagnaia to retaliate but the
Marquez
move gave Martin
enough breathing space where
he could wheelie over the line in
victory. Martin was so pumped
he smashed his screen with his
fist in celebration.
"That GP has been great,"
Martin said. "I've always been
first, and this victory means so
much to me, the team, and the
championship. I had been ask
-
ing myself in the helmet, 'Who is
the number
one?' And that gave
me extra motivation to push and
take this victory.
Marquez was second, four-
tenths of a second adrift, Bagna-
ia a further tenth of a second be-
hind in third. Bastianini clawed
back to
fourth with a series of
fastest race laps with Vinales, Di
made the pass stick.
Now it was Bagnaia's turn to
try and find a way past the di-
minutive Spaniard. Marquez had
finally disposed
of Di Giannanto-
nio and Vinales, and had closed
up to
the leading duo of Martin
and Bagnaia to make it a trio
with three laps remaining.
Bagnaia was hounding Martin
everywhere, but Martin refused
to crack under the pressure and,
with a lap to go, they were cov-
ered by one-tenth of a second.
Try
as he might, Bagnaia simply
couldn't find a gap on Martin, yet
Marquez could on Bagnaia. In a
massive late-brake lunge, Mar-
quez shoved Bagnaia aside at
the Chemina
aux Boeufs esses,
held the line and stole second
place. There was nowhere for
ROUND 5 / MAY 10-12, 2024
BUGATTI CIRCUIT / LE MANS, FRANCE
MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P104
Sergio Garcia was
impervious and took a clear
win to move back into the
Moto2 points lead.
