Aprilia's Jorge Martin produces stunning charge from eighth to win French Grand Prix

[p]Ducati's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bagnaia-francesco/nahP9n9q/"]Francesco Bagnaia[/a], who started from ‌pole position, finished second, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bezzecchi-marco/EXzAZEse/"]Bezzecchi[/a] claimed third for his ‌first sprint podium of the season.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martin-jorge/zBBka6dR/"]Martin[/a]'s victory, a record 18th sprint ‌success for the 2024 champion, moved the Spaniard to within ‌six points of Bezzecchi in the standings ahead of Sunday's main race.[/p][p]Martin's remarkable comeback began with a blistering start as he sliced through the ‌field before overtaking a group of riders ⁠on the outside with surgical ‌precision.[/p][p]"[b]I love this track. Today, I struggled a bit in qualifying, but ​I knew my potential was much higher[/b]," a beaming Martin said.[/p][p]"[b]I just put all my determination into the ​start. I didn't expect to be (in) first position in the second corner, but from that point, I just pushed like in ⁠the past, like what ​I am used to[/b]."[/p][embed guid="16130589-fbf4-42bc-9911-6ac11c031c19" url="https://x.com/MotoGP/status/2053104150951366763" social-type="twitter" /][p]Bagnaia was initially pushed down to third, but the polesitter managed to capitalise when Bezzecchi went wide, moving up to second.[/p][p]But [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marquez-marc/UPhfij2b/"]Marquez[/a], who had broken the lap record in ‌qualifying, was unable to match race pace and fell to seventh by lap three.[/p][p]Up front, Martin led Bagnaia by more than a second by the halfway mark, with the Italian struggling to catch up.[/p][p]"[b]The pace was good, so really happy. We're still missing something compared to Aprilia, but we're improving[/b]," Bagnaia said after picking up his third straight sprint silver medal.[/p][p]With one lap to go, Marquez suffered a nasty highside crash, and ‌the world champion was thrown off his bike, which cartwheeled through ​the air before landing beside him.[/p][embed guid="8cf6a7de-9b7f-4397-b333-3e72f9479cb2" url="https://x.com/MotoGP/status/2053115291400380464" social-type="twitter" /][p]Marquez had planted his ‌right foot on the track just before he was thrown off his bike, and the 33-year-old was seen hopping on one leg before he was taken for medical checks, with his participation in Sunday's race in doubt.[/p][p]KTM's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/acosta-pedro/KrGeaHq5/"]Pedro Acosta[/a] ⁠was fourth, and home favourite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/quartararo-fabio/UsfVoiLM/"]⁠Fabio Quartararo[/a] of Yamaha ‌rounded out the top five.[/p]