Have you caught your breath yet? Don’t worry, we haven’t either! What an incredible weekend we’ve just had at the Michelin® Grand Prix of France with Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) storming to an emotional victory. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) was unable to hold off his fast-charging teammate in the closing laps, claiming second and a further 20 points. Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) completed the podium, securing Aprilia its first MotoGP podium lockout. In a weekend full of tense fights, shock moments and historic outcomes, catch up on the hottest talking points from Le Mans!

"I never gave up!"

Emotions, sacrifices and a change of manufacturers. Jorge Martin completed a stunning comeback in Le Mans, winning his first GP in 588 days. It was a special occasion for the #89, who completed the double following a superb Saturday Sprint. Martin continues to impress in 2026, showing incredible late race pace – eventually striking with three laps remaining. Speaking in the post-GP Press Conference, Martin described his emotions following his triumph.

Martin: "I never thought that I could fight for victory, but for sure, I never gave up! I was catching riders step by step, and I was even losing time with some of them. But I think it was with eight laps to go when I first thought about the victory. I saw Marco was struggling with the rear, and I just gave it everything I had. I had faith until the end, and it paid off. I’m super happy. Aprilia is helping me a lot to fight for victory. The bike is fantastic.

"I always say that I am grateful for the bad things that happened to me because if you take it as something to improve, something to learn from, that just makes you a better man. So, all the bad things that happened to me have made me the man that I am today."

"Let’s keep working"

Marco Bezzecchi was unable to stand on the top step of the podium this weekend, finishing as runner-up on Sunday. It was still a solid result for the Italian star, who admitted to not feeling completely comfortable this weekend. After Le Mans, Bezzecchi holds a one-point advantage in the World Championship standings – leaving us with sky-high anticipation for Barcelona. Although it wasn’t the P1 he’d hoped for, Bezzecchi has plenty of positives and was a part of a historic podium for the Noale factory.

Bezzecchi: "I’m very, very happy. I'm super grateful to be part of it. It’s an amazing group of people, talking about the people in Noale in the factory, but also the engineers here at the tracks. It's amazing to stay with them, to see how much effort they put into their job. To be part of this is super nice and super cool. I'm very, very happy to also be able to develop the bike in the past month. Let’s keep working."

"Thank you to all the Trackhouse team"

Ai Ogura added his name to the history books on Sunday afternoon, standing on the podium after incredible late race pace from the third row of the grid. Ogura became the first Japanese rider to stand on the MotoGP podium in 14 years and the first ever MotoGP podium finisher to come through the Asia Talent Cup. After an unforgettable weekend, Ogura is already searching for the next step, with the hope of improving the early laps.

Ogura: "After the likes of Thailand, Brazil and Austin, we really wanted to have one podium at least. I’m super, super happy about the race. There’s not much to say. Thank you to all the Trackhouse team.

"Our weak point is qualifying or the first part of the race, so for sure we are not just setting up the bike for the end of the race. But I don't know. It’s like this right now. We will just keep working."

"Nobody gets past me while looking at me"

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) put on an incredible show for the French fans – trading blows until the end. The #49 pipped Acosta in the closing moments, finishing 0.140s ahead at the chequered flag – moving Di Giannantonio to P3 in the Championship. After the battle, Acosta admitted to defending more than he should have and is left with some unfinished business ahead of Barcelona.

Acosta: "I was a little too defensive. I thought I was closer than I actually was, but I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Nobody gets past me while looking at me. We’ll see each other again in the next race"

Di Giannantonio: "I wanted to pass him at Turn 9. I prepared the attack there because on the lap before, I exited Turn 8 really well, but on that lap, I had a really bad exit. So after that, I said, 'OK, invent, invent, fast!' I remember one of my best overtakes in 2018 was there in Moto3, where I did it on Bez, and I just tried to repeat it."

"We clearly know what happened"

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) suffered a difficult end to his weekend in France, suffering a crash on Lap 16. Bagnaia crashed out of second place, ending what was an overall positive weekend after the #63 qualified on pole position and added another Sprint podium to his collection. Bagnaia was the sole Ducati Lenovo rider on circuit following Marc Marquez’ Sprint crash, resulting in the #93 being declared unfit. Reflecting on the weekend, Bagnaia remains positive about the hard work that both he and the team are putting in.

Bagnaia: "Honestly, after the weekend we've had, it's clear that there are many positives. We worked well. I'm very happy and proud of the work done, also after the test, because everything I was asking the team for, we worked on and we improved."

"Today, the pace was very good. I made a terrible start again, but I managed to come back and overtake riders, so there are many positives. I was thinking about catching Bez, because I think I had a better pace, but unfortunately, with seven laps to go, I started to lose a bit of confidence, and I was limited by a little issue on the bike that slowed us down. I just tried to keep the same pace, and I lost the front. So the crash was a consequence, but we clearly know what happened, and the team is already working on it to try to improve."