LE MANS, France — Italian rider Marco Bezzecchi produced a battling display at the French MotoGP to record his second win of the season and slash fellow Italian Francesco Bagnaia’s championship lead.
Jorge Martin finished second, just over four seconds behind the winner, while Martin’s Pramac Ducati team mate Johann Zarco was third to give the French fans something to cheer about.
“It’s fantastic, I started very well,” Bezzecchi said. “I just tried to keep my rhythm, and I felt very good on the bike!”
“(It) was an unbelievable day for me,” he told Motorsport.com.
“Honestly, this morning I didn’t expect to have this kind of race. But yesterday I felt good on the bike and I knew that with a good start I could make something more… obviously I didn’t expect a win, but anyway a good race.
“When I started I saw that I was faster than the guys in front of me.
“I was able to overtake them. Once I got in the lead I was able to put on a good pace and I was feeling very well with my bike and I was able to escape.”
The 24-year-old, who only stepped up from Moto2 at the start of 2022, is now just one point behind championship leader Bagnaia, who came under investigation for his part in the crash that took him out of the race as well as Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales.
Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez, on his return from injury sustained in a first-lap crash in the season opener in Portugal, was running a strong second until he slid off the track on the penultimate lap.
Reigning champion Bagnaia was competing with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales 22 laps from the end when contact on a risky overtaking move caused both riders to crash out of the race.
“I’m still not thinking about the championship,” said Bezzecchi, who can now take a break before heading to his home Italian MotoGP on June 11.
“We saw having the sprint and the main GP in the same weekend, it’s very easy to lose everything very quickly.
“So, I just want to continue like this, thinking weekend by weekend, race by race, enjoying my bike with the guys (in the team) who are fantastic. Now we go to Mugello.”
Tempers flared and Vinales confronted the championship leader and shoved him before the pair was separated.
On the same lap, Marquez and Luca Marini of VR46 Ducati were involved in a crash, with Marquez emerging unscathed despite landing in the middle of the track.
Six-times world champion Marc Marquez looked on course for a second-placed finish, but crashed out after a mistake with two laps to go, Reuters reported.
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