building a gap of more than a
second as the Sprint unfolded.
Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo
Team) endured a difficult open-
ing phase, slipping from the
front row
to seventh after being
passed by Pedro Acosta (Red
Bull KTM Factory Racing) and
Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol)
in the early laps. Acosta contin-
ued his charge by moving ahead
of Fabio
Quartararo (Monster
Energy Yamaha MotoGP) to
MotoGP Sprint
Starting from eighth on the grid,
Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing)
made a stunning launch, sweep-
ing around the outside of Marco
Bezzecchi (Aprilia
Racing),
polesitter Francesco Bagnaia
(Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marc
Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team)
to seize the lead at turn four. Ba
-
gnaia settled into second after
Bezzecchi
ran
wide on lap three,
but Martin quickly broke clear,
ROUND 4 / MAY 8-10, 2026
BUGATTI CIRCUIT / LE MANS, FRANCE
ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P88
72 MARCO BEZZECCHI
3RD/2ND MOTOGP
Bezzecchi was unable to hold off
his teammate in the closing laps but
claimed second on Sunday and a fur-
ther 20 points. "It was a good week-
end overall, despite the difficulties,"
he said. "I'm pleased because I took a
spot on the front row in qualifying and
finished on the podium in the Sprint
race and in the long race. I tried to
stay focused and to ride without
making mistakes. I gave one hundred
percent, but Jorge had a little more."
20 FABIO QUARTARARO
5TH/6TH MOTOGP
Quartararo's weekend at his home
race ended with a fifth on Saturday
and a sixth on Sunday, with his fifth in
the Sprint being his best of the year in
either the full- or half-distance races.
"We had to be really smooth on brak-
ing, but that's also where I can make
the difference," Quartararo said. "I
think today was the first race in a long
time that I felt like this. I could push
myself at 100 percent, and I think
that was quite nice, especially on the
opening lap. Everything was more
close, it was easier to overtake, and I
MYOWNRACE
