fied until disaster struck for Marc
Marquez on the penultimate lap,
the Ducati rider suffering a vio-
lent crash at turn 13 but walking
away, later being diagnosed
with
a broken metatarsal in his foot
(see In The Wind).
Martin cruised to his second
Sprint victory of the season
ahead of Bagnaia and Bezzec-
chi, while Acosta finished fourth
and Quartararo
delighted the
home crowd in fifth.
Sunday MotoGP
Bezzecchi grabbed the holeshot
from the front row at Le Mans,
while home favorite Quartararo
climbed to second after an early
scrap with Acosta. Polesitter
Bagnaia slipped to fourth, while
Di Giannantonio made a strong
launch into fifth.
Early drama saw Alex Mar
-
quez (BK8 Gresini Racing
MotoGP) crash
out, as Acosta
passed Quartararo before Bag
-
take fourth, while Quartararo
remained in a close fight with
Mir and Marquez.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Per-
tamina Enduro VR46 Racing
Team) saw his race
unravel
after a poor start, ending in the
gravel at turn three on lap five.
At the front, Martin remained
untouchable, steadily extending
his advantage over Bagnaia, with
Bezzecchi comfortably holding
third. The battle for fifth intensi-
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 19 MAY 12, 2026 P89
could feel the limit better, so yeah, it
was nice. Let's see what happens at
other track layouts."
63 FRANCESCO BAGNAIA
2ND/DNF MOTOGP
After a runner-up spot in the Satur-
day Sprint, Pecco Bagnaia looked to
be in contention for his first Sunday
podium of the 2026 season until he
crashed in the first chicane on lap
16 of 27. "The weekend overall was
a positive one: we started strongly
and worked well, and we were fast
in every session while improving
constantly," Bagnaia said. "We were
in the podium battle today despite
a small issue at the start, but then
we encountered a minor setback
that made me lose confidence with
the front-end. I still tried to push
and maintain the pace, but the front
tucked. These things can happen."
MYOWNRACE
Martin (89) pulled one
of the passes of the
season at the start of
the Sprint to take the
lead. Once he was there,
he never looked back.
