A perfect Jorge Martin wins the Sunday race of the French Grand Prix, fifth act of the 2024 MotoGP world championship. Double for the Spaniard after also triumphing in the sprint on Saturday. Martinator wins ahead of Marc Marquez who overtakes Francesco Bagnaia in the final corners. Fourth was Enea Bastianini, then Maverick Vinales. Marco Bezzecchi crashed in the early stages of the race and ended a black weekend with two crashes in two days. Sunday to forget also for Maravilla rookie Pedro Acosta, who suffered his first crash of the season in the early stages of the GP. Let’s go and give our votes to the protagonists of the Le Mans weekend.
The report cards of the Le Mans Grand Prix
Jorge MARTIN Score 9: Well done Jorge. This time he doesn’t dominate like in the sprint, but with the lower temperatures and the many laps available it was very difficult to get away. So Martin first remained calm behind Bagnaia, then passed him and held the lead until the last metre. A very heavy victory for the Spaniard, which allows him to extend his lead to +38 on the current world champion in the genearle, but above all he confirms himself as the main candidate to become Pecco’s teammate for next season. Ducati will have to decide soon, Martinator’s candidacy is increasingly stronger.
Marc MARQUEZ Rating 10: Martin was fantastic, but Marquez’s race was sensational. Cabroncito starts off well like yesterday and within a few laps is already among the leaders. However, Marc is unable to get close to Martin, but loses ground behind the good Vinales. Only in the final laps did he manage to free himself from the Spaniard from Aprilia, climbing onto the podium. So, when Martin and Bagnaia fight for the victory, the alien from Cervera takes advantage of the opportunity to come back. At the end Marquez attacks Bagnaia and passes him with a few corners to go. 24 positions gained between sprint and race, Cabroncito proves to be increasingly fit on this bike, at the level of his two brand mates but with the vehicle of a year earlier. Victory doesn’t come, but it’s always just a matter of time. And then, in the end, the Spaniard finds himself only two points behind Pecco, -40 behind Martin. Many, but not very many.
Francesco BAGNAIA Rating 8: An excellent race for Pecco, which started off in the best possible way with a good start and an excellent feeling with the first bike. Pecco holds off Martin, until he gives in with ten laps to go. The Italian, however, doesn’t give up and stays there, trying to come back for the victory. On the last lap, however, Marquez’s aggression gets the better of him and Bagnaia closes out the podium. The performance is of a high level, the problem is that Martin has two victories out of two, while the world champion leaves France “only” with a third place and with a high overall gap. We have to recover from Barcelona in two weeks.
Enea BASTIANINI Rating 7.5: Half a vote less for the mistake with Aleix which caused him to take a long lap. We won’t go into the ratio of the penalty, but these are the rules and we must accept them. Without the long lap, looking at his pace especially in the final full of super fast laps, this Enea could even have been with the top three. A sumptuous race by the Beast, who also started from tenth position and finished in fourth place. Maybe it’s too late for the official Ducati seat for next year, of course this Enea is finally demonstrating what he can do with this bike.
Maverick VINALES Rating 7: First not Ducati at the finish line and this is always an excellent result. Top Gun starts well, but makes a mistake in turn 2 and therefore loses ground. But he remains constant at very high levels and only at the end does he have to surrender to the Beast. After third place in the sprint, another great result.
Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO Rating 6.5: Solid performance from Diggia, who for large stretches even fights for the podium, then like Enea he also takes a long lap in a somewhat stupid way and finishes in sixth place.
Franco MORBIDELLI Rating 6: Finally a Morbidelli at good levels from Sunday. It is the Italian’s first seasonal points finish in the long race. Better late than never. From here he must start again to return to the top. More consistency and fewer ups and downs.
Brad BINDER Rating 7 and a half: On the day in which Acosta does well after a few laps, the South African returns to steal the show in his own way in KTM. From last place he starts off like a slingshot and in just a few laps he is already on the edge of the top ten. He takes advantage of a few falls to even finish eighth.
Fabio QUARTARARO Score 6: Too bad for El Diablo who gives 200% in his home GP and even remains in the top ten for long stretches. Then he goes beyond the limits and ends up in the sand to the despair of him and the audience.
Pedro ACOSTA Rating 5: It had to happen sooner or later. In nine races he had never left the top ten, with very few errors, but this time he made a mistake and ended up on the ground while he was daring too much against Di Giannantonio. Not bad, he will have plenty of opportunities in the next few weeks.
Luca MARINI Rating 4: What to say: when you reach the finish line last, the only one out of the points, ten seconds from the penultimate and almost 15 seconds from Zarco, there is a lot to work on.
Marco BEZZECCHI Rating 4: Weekend to forget. Yesterday he crashed after a few laps, today the same. After Jerez, two missed opportunities.
Marquez: “Winning straight away with Team Gresini will be difficult but the bike is there”
