MotoGp, Martin wins the Le Mans sprint. Bagnaia third

LE MANS – One more Ducati on the top step of the podium, for the fourth consecutive year on the French track: riding the Pramac Gp23, Jorge Martin won the sprint race of Le Mans preceding Brad Binder. Thanks to this result, the South African of KTM climbs to second place in the general classification by overtaking Bezzecchi (7th), and nibbles a couple of points in Pecco Bagnaia. Paradoxically, the world champion consolidates his lead, for the placement and for how he arrived: he managed to manage some set-up problems and finished with a concrete 3rd place, after having got the better of Marc Marquez at the end of a spectacular duel with a somewhat controversial queue. The Honda Cannibal was also overtaken by Honda in the final stages Luca Marini, another Ducati rider who rides in the Mooney Vr46 team. For Borgo Panigale it is the umpteenth demonstration of strength: a trio of Reds in the top 4, and – including Zarco and the Bez – they are 5 in the top 7. For Quartararo, the homeboy, a real disaster: El Diablo got off to a terrible start, from the fifth row, yet he recovered one position after another thanks to the good pace that has accompanied him since yesterday. But with 4 laps to go he lost control of his M1, ending up in the gravel. They score points (a few) too Aprilia: Aleix Espargarò (8th) precedes Vinales.

Felicità Martin: “Proud of me and the team”

“I finally made it,” celebrates Martin. “I’m proud of myself and of the team: it’s only a sprint race, all right, but I’ve rediscovered the good feeling of staying in front without making any mistakes. And I really enjoyed the last few corners of this race. We hope to smile again tomorrow afternoon”. Brad Binder is now 23 points behind leader Bagnaia in the standings. He started 10th, after a couple of laps he was already 4th: “I knew the start was very important,” says the South African. “I was sure I could be competitive in the finale. We can do better in tomorrow’s long race”.

Bagnaia and that “unpunished” overtaking by the Cannibal

Bagnaia got off to a splendid start, in front of everyone, then he was overtaken by Martin – who objectively seemed to have an extra gear – on lap 5 he was attacked by Marquez and to defend himself he lost the position to the advantage of Binder (amazing overtaking!) , but then on the following lap the Piedmontese surrendered to the Cannibal, who also touched him. “A move that can be made,” commented Davide Tardozzi, Ducati team manager. “But Pecco had done the same in Jerez with Miller and they had demoted him by one position. Here they said that certain things couldn’t be done, so why wasn’t Marc penalized too?”.

Bitter sin: “Why wasn’t Marquez punished?”

In the race, the world champion sent his opponent to hell. “It was a moment of tension”, confirmed Bagnaia curtly, crossing the finish line. “Then I closed the gap and took 3rd place. I like it that way, sometimes in the race you have to be aggressive. What makes me angry is the yardstick: if I was punished, why not do the same with Marquez? Anyway, I had fun, even if I struggled at the beginning, perhaps because the temperature of the rear tire rose a lot. I still hoped to be able to win, but finishing on the podium is important. I’ll try to do better tomorrow.”