After Jerez and Alex Marquez's victory, MotoGP arrives in France for one of the most history-rich Grands Prix: racing takes place on the world-famous Le Mans circuit. Last year, local hero Johann Zarco triumphed in the wet with a flawless race, securing his first victory in the premier class after nearly ten years of waiting, all in front of a crowd of 300,000 spectators.

As with the last appointment, these are the Tops and Flops of "MotoGP Le Mans 2026." To discuss this weekend, as in the previous post, I will divide my analysis between Saturday and Sunday. Let’s begin.

Top & Flop MotoGP Le Mans 2026

Saturday

TOP.

• Francesco Bagnaia: An extremely positive Saturday. He takes pole position, showing a great pace, confirming the good form seen during the three free practice sessions. In the Sprint, he doesn't start very well, losing two positions to Martin and Bezzecchi. Pecco takes a while to overtake Bezzecchi for second place and, once successful, finds himself a second and a half behind Martin. Having the same pace as the leader, he fails to close the gap and finishes second. A good result, considering the difficult start to his 2026.

  
  

• Jorge Martin: He demonstrated incredible speed, even though I didn't have him as a favorite in the sprint starting from the eighth spot. Instead, Martin shoots off like a rocket, and after the first chicane is already in the lead, pulling off an outside braking maneuver that defies the laws of physics. From there, he pushes hard, manages the race, and pockets eight points, shortening the gap to the world championship leader Bezzecchi.

  
  

• Marco Bezzecchi: Starts third, overtakes Bagnaia and Marc Marquez to take the lead before Turn 1, only to then suffer an exaggerated outside braking move from his teammate, who shuts the door on him. He is later overtaken by Bagnaia during the sprint, showing he doesn't have the pace of the top two. It remains a solid race: he doesn't crash, brings home six points, and if he sets up the bike for Sunday, he could really have his say.

  
  

• Fabio Quartararo: With a Yamaha that is currently a failure, he manages to snatch sixth place in qualifying and fifth in the Sprint. It hurts to see such talent wasting time for four years with a manufacturer that seems to have lost its way. To give an idea of the miracle: the other Yamahas finished the Sprint in 12th, 13th, and 14th place (and would have been further back without others' crashes). If he had a competitive bike, the Frenchman would be a serious title contender.

  
  

• Honda: Mir sixth, Zarco ninth, and Moreira tenth. Sure, there were some crashes ahead, but you still have to push to be there. If Marini hadn't slipped, we would likely have had four Hondas in the Top 10, an event not seen in years. Japanese development is finally moving in the right direction.

  
  

• Ai Ogura: Finishes seventh behind the factory Aprilias, but midway through the sprint, he showed a pace superior to Acosta, Quartararo, and Mir, who were ahead of him. With Sunday's 27 laps, the Japanese rider could aim for a great result, provided he starts well and the weather stays dry.

  
  

• Jonas Folger: Gets on Vinales' bike on Friday with only one day of testing and after years of absence from MotoGP. Taking everything into account, he goes fast. A very solid Friday and an excellent Saturday until the crash. He deserves a "top" because riding these bikes without adequate physical and technical preparation is a remarkable feat.

FLOP

• Marc Marquez: After the Jerez crash, another heavy zero arrives in the Sprint. This Ducati doesn't seem so competitive in his hands; despite second place in qualifying, in the race, he never seemed to have the pace to recover. It seems the "magic" of 2025 has vanished. For Sunday, he just has to hope for the weather.

  Blogger's note on Monday: There will be no Sunday for Marq. In the crash, he broke himself, and not only will he miss the Le Mans race but also the one in Barcelona, returning perhaps for Mugello in June. A season to forget.

  
  

• VR46: A sporting drama. Both riders are down. While for Morbidelli it is almost no longer news, for Di Giannantonio it is a real shame: he started fourth but completely botched the launch, found himself in traffic and, in an attempt to recover, pushed too hard and crashed. However, free practice showed that the potential to do well on Sunday is all there.

Sunday

TOP

• Jorge Martin: What a race for Jorge! He starts eighth and, while not finding the same lightning start as the sprint, manages to handle the bottleneck of the first chicane. For the first laps, he stays calm, lets the hard front tire reach temperature, and then starts hammering with a superb pace. He picks them off one after another, takes the lead by overtaking his teammate, and from there controls until the end. Now Jorge is just one point away from the top, occupied by the very teammate he just beat. A completely different tune compared to 2025.

  
  

• Ai Ogura: He runs along the same lines as Martin. Starts eighth, recovers a couple of positions on the first lap, and waits it out in the early phase. Then, like the Spaniard, he unleashes an insane race pace (at times even half a second faster than the leaders), climbing up to the third step of the podium. A pity only for catching the leaders a bit too late, but this third place tastes very sweet. Already last year as a rookie, he showed great tire management; this year he took the definitive step. We had already seen it in Austin before the breakdown, but this time at Le Mans, no one stopped him. If only he started further forward, he would be an extremely dangerous contender for the win.

  
  

• Marco Bezzecchi: A very solid performance. He was perhaps missing a breath of pace compared to Martin, but he closed a weekend to remember: third in the sprint and second in the race. There is little to add: if he maintains this consistency, the world championship is a concrete reality. It's too early for calculations, also because his teammate seems to have more, but dreaming is not forbidden at all.

  
  

• Fabio Di Giannantonio: After the bitter Saturday, he redeems himself in a big way. A high-quality fourth place, with a great rhythm and the performance of his best days. The crash in the sprint was just an unfortunate parenthesis, quickly forgotten with a concrete race and a good haul of points. The standings are still tight, even though the strength of the factory Aprilias will make the title fight very close. However, this season can be truly full of satisfaction.

  
  

• Pedro Acosta: With a KTM currently not competitive, he is the one saving the house. Again today he is the best of his group by far, staying attached to the lead pack for almost the entire race and finishing only three seconds behind the winner. Without him, the Austrian manufacturer would be in a deep crisis, a scenario that is worrying for the future, given that Acosta seems destined for Ducati for next year.

  
  

• Fabio Quartararo: In his home race, he did much more than what Yamaha could offer him. A sixth place that almost makes no sense when compared to the pace of the other riders of the brand. Fabio is always the last bastion, the only one capable of making the difference. A wonderful race.

  
  

• Jonas Folger: He laps "only" two seconds slower than Martin. Considering his last MotoGP race was three years ago, it is a grand result. He made no mistakes, did his duty, and reached the finish line. Truly a fine performance.

  
  

FLOP

• Francesco Bagnaia: After second place in the sprint and good premises, Sunday arrives and with it the crash that extinguishes dreams of glory. It has been since last October (Japan 2025) that Pecco has failed to close a clean and fast weekend. In a weekend where Marc Marquez is out due to injury, he should have taken advantage and brought home heavy points; instead, he ends up on the ground. A pity.

  
  

• Honda: They end up among the flops because, after positive signs throughout 2026 and all of Friday, two crashes and two finishes outside the Top 10 arrive. For a bike that has been fighting stably for the top ten positions since the start of the season, it is a negative Sunday. Paradoxically, this discontent highlights how much Honda has actually improved.

  
  

• Yamaha: A project that currently appears as a failure. The bike was supposed to be the vehicle for redemption; instead, it is constantly in the last positions. Excluding Quartararo's miracles, "normal" riders struggle enormously to keep the pace.

  
  

These were the top and flop of the French Grand Prix.

A weekend characterized by a very high level, with almost the entire field grouped within one second of difference for all sessions. The current competitiveness is almost impressive. Here you can see the results.

Next week we race in Barcelona, on a track that has always seen little grip and high heat, where those who can better control the rear tire slide and the temperatures will have an enormous advantage.

M.