Alex Marquez to Receive a 3 Place Grid Penalty in Italy

The 2023 MotoGP French Grand Prix at Le Mans was a race full of on track incidents. 8 riders DNF the grand prix. Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) was handed a 3 place grid drop penalty for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Gresini Ducati protested the decision but their efforts proved to be futile as the FIM struck down the challenge. The FIM described the move that caused the crash as “overly ambitious”. Adding that the penalty was granted due to, “irresponsible riding causing danger to other competitors.”

Marquez explained the incident from his point of view to Crash.net, “I was behind Johann and after turn 5 I was not expecting him to be braking really soon. Then I was trying to avoid him on the inside.”

They closed the gas so early and then I touched just a little bit Brad. Brad’s line is really inside there and he was trying to defend and I just touched him a little bit, but I saw that he lost some positions. So I’m sorry for that because it was not my intention to go against Brad. I just touched him just a little bit, but you know, for him it was a big one because he went really, really off wide.”

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This morning the French Grand Prix at Le Mans took place to cap off the race weekend. The race was full of on track incidents that led to 8 factory riders retiring from the race. Unfortunately for Ducati one of those riders was Francesco Bagnaia. Bagnaia and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) came together on lap 5 of the race after Vinales attempted in inside pass that proved to be more than he could muster. Both riders were forced into retirement. Bagnaia and Vinales had some words over the incident that involved a period of shoving track side. The two riders appear to have escaped without major injury.

Marco Bezzecchi claimed victory at Le Mans bringing him one point behind the championship leader Bagnaia. Saturday’s Sprint race winner, Jorge Martin capitalized on the DNF incidents and was able to secure a P2 finish in the Grand Prix. His second podium of the weekend. Teammate Johann Zarco rounded out the podium in third which was a great result for the Prima Pramac Team.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing) also had an on track clash. The incident resulted in both of them retiring from the race. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) who was seemingly cruising to a podium finish also crashed out of the race with 2 laps to go. Marquez would have secured a second place finish before the crash and will leave this race empty handed. Marc Marquez had 3 crashes on the weekend.

Jack Miller who was competing for a podium this weekend also DNF the Grand Prix. Alex Rins (LCR Honda CASTROL) and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) completed the DNF list. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Lenovo) fill in for Enea Bastianini finished 11th in his MotoGP return.

Full Race Results are available Below

MotoGP Championship Standings

The MotoGP world had its head turned upside down with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) winning the French GP sprint race. The race ended with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) dropping back from pole after qualifying fastest to P3. Jack Miller (KTM Racing) was knocking on the door for a podium finish but crashed out of the sprint race. The incident occurred on the second lap of the race after he lost the front end of his KTM.

It was an unfortunate day for the KTMs as three out of the four on grid did not finish the sprint race. The lone KTM rider that finished the race was Brad Binder. Binder finished on the podium in P2 after running P10 in qualifying. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) finished P4. Marquez who had a seemingly good fight for the front fell to P5. With Bagnaia not securing the win his championship lead was reduced to 23 points over second place holder Brad Binder who improved his position after the sprint. Jorge Martin’s teammate Johann Zarco finished 5th to round out the top 5 on a great day for the Ducatis. Ducati as a manufacturer had 5 bikes in the top 10.

Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha Monster Energy) crashed out of the French GP sprint race. The sprint was another another disappointing finish for the former champion. Speculation is rising that Quartararo is very unhappy with the direction of the Yamaha side. Jonas Folger and Augusto Fernandez also had crash incidents during the sprint.

Full Sprint Race Results are Below.

MotoGP qualifying at the French GP at Le Mans has concluded and championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) secured pole. Marc Marquez (Team HRC) takes P2 is his first qualifying session back form injury since Portugal. Marquez seemed to be cruising to what would have been his 65th pole position but Bganai had other plans. Luca Marini rouded out the top three falling 0.137s behind Bagnaia. Jack Miller (KTM Racing) who ran fastest in FP2 fell 3 tenths behind Bagnaia earning him a best P4 in Q2. Miller and Bagnaia had engine issues in the session.

2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo failed to make it to Q2 and will start 13th on the grid for the Sprint and Grand Prix. Otherwise the session was mostly uneventful. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) crashed at Turn 1 with a few minutes behind the end of the session. Espargaro walked away from the incident without major injury and the yellow flags were withdrawn. Many riders failed to find pace after tire changes resulting in their early times standing for final qualifying. Complete qualifying results are below.

Full Qualifying Results

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Jack Miller (KTM Racing) tops FP2 edging ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) at Le Mans. Miller stole the fastest lap right at the end of the session by a gap of 0.119s after Espargaro and Marco Bezzecchi traded the top spot throughout the session. Marc Marquez (Team HRC) suffered his second crash on the weekend but was able to salvage an 8th fastest on the session.

FP2 yielded multiple crashes. Lorenzo Savadori (RNF Aprilia), Augusto Fernandez (Tech3 GAS GAS) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) in the first 15 minutes. Fabio Quartararo failed to make it into Q2 setting a best 1:31.650s finishing 12th best .

Full FP2 Results are Below

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Round 4 of the MotoGP season takes place at Le Mans Circuit Bugatti for the 2023 French Grand Prix. Built in 1965 the venue has hosted Grand Prix since the late sixties. Le Mans is a close quarters action filled track. It has multiple first gear corners that place the emphasis on late braking and hard acceleration on the long straights. The course is a 2.6 mile circuit featuring 14 turns. The longest straight is 2100+ feet long which allows riders to reach maximum speeds as they head into braking zones.

The race runs 27 laps and current championship leader Francesco Bagnaia is the current lap record holder setting a 1:31.778. This weekend will mark the 1000th Grand Prix in MotoGP. This weekend Marc Marquez (Team HRC) will return to the grid with a healthy teammate Joan Mir (Team HRC). This is his first appearance since the Portugal Grand Prix incident that led to injury.

Whispers in the Paddock

The riders are set to have an FIM safety meeting Friday morning to discuss certain incidents thus far in the season. There is a sentiment in the paddock that certain rules are not being applied equally amongst all riders. One such rider is Fabio Quartararo. He stated to motorsport.com, “We know that we are not agreeing with the decisions they are making all the time and that we always say it doesn’t seem equal between all the riders. That’s why we will try to have maybe some other guys that cannot get more disturbed by the popularity of the riders to be more equal.”

Championship leading rider Francesco Bagnaia also interviewed with motorsport.com and stated, “I really hope to have the possibility to understand their point of view and to share our point of view,” Bagnaia said when asked by Motorsport.com what he hoped to gain from this meeting. “This one could be already a good step, because in this moment, personally I’m not understanding their point of view.”

We will report on the outcome of the meeting if there are any conversations of note. In the mean time you can check your local streaming providers for access to race weekend content. Race coverage is available via NBC but it will not be streamed live. Sunday’s race is set to beginning at 8:00am EST on Sunday.

From FIM: This article was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff

The MotoGP™ Court of Appeal have issued its final decision on the Application of the Sanction in Marc Marquez’s (Repsol Honda Team) case. Here is what the FIM have published:

Following the provisional decision of the MotoGP™ Court of Appeal pronounced on 12 April 2023 granting the stay of execution of the Application of the Sanction imposed on Marc Marquez, the Court still had to decide on the merits of the case considering inter alia the brief of appeal submitted by Marc Marquez and Team HRC – Repsol Honda Team on 17 April 2023.

The Court decided to annul the Application of the Sanction imposed on Marc Marquez, which was issued by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel in connection with the Original Sanction.

The Court considered that the Double Long Lap Penalty imposed on Marc Marquez by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel during the MotoGP™ Race of Portugal held on 26 March 2023 has been served by the non-participation of the Rider in the 2023 MotoGP™ Race of Argentina.

Marc Marquez is hence allowed to compete in the next race in which he will be able to participate, without any further sanction.

Read the full decision of the MotoGP™ Court of Appeal in the attached file.

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team WorldSBK) is to step in for Enea Bastianini (Lenovo Ducati Team) whom broke his shoulder blade in a on track incident in the opening sprint race of the MotoGP season. The injury has left him unable to compete since that time. Bastianini attempted to ride at the Spanish GP in Jerez, but the pain appeared to be too much for the rider. Bastianini’s Team Manager Davide Tardozzi, “He said it is too painful after a couple of laps, it is too hard to ride. We don’t want to take too many risks, so he decided to stop.” He had logged 5 laps before calling it quits and ruled himself out for the Spanish GP.

Bastianini has now reportedly withdrawn from the French GP at Le Mans and WorldSBK rider Danilo Petrucci has been called up to fill in due to Bastianini’s extended absence. Petrucci is a previous MotoGP rider having been on the MotoGP grid from 2012-2021. Most recently he has been competing in WorldSBK which has not yet translated to the success he saw last year in the USA MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. However, when opportunity calls you show up. At Le Mans, Petrucci will step in for Bastianini alongside World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia. The WorldSBK rider previously won at the French GP with Ducati in 2020. The upcoming French GP will be his first showing in MotoGP since his appearance at the 2022 Thai GP. We will keep you updated on the developments surrounding this story.

For more information on injury updates visit. MotoGP.com

After an intense exchange in the sprint race. Front runners Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), Brad Binder (KTM) and Jack Miller (KTM) set the pace for the weekend. Bagnaia had an uphill battle during the race, only reaching top spot contention in the final 3 laps of the race. Marco Bezzecchi who temporarily held the championship point lead after the last race had a weekend to forget with multiple on track incidents. The latest being a crash in turn 17 which results in Bezzecchi leaving Spain with just a P9 finish in the sprint race.

The Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) was involved in an on track collision with RNF Racing’s Miguel Oliveira. Oliveira suffered a shoulder injury in the incident and the race was red flagged. The FIM stewards penalized Quartararo with a long lap penalty for his involvement in the crash. Unfortunately, after running fastest in morning warm up he was not able to translate that pace to the race in what has been an otherwise disappointing season thus far. He finished the race P10 after rejoining the race after the red flag.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) was not able to capitalize on his pole position start. He settled for a P5 finished. Jorge Martin seemed to find a pocket in the field and cruised to a P4 finish late for the Prima Pramac Racing side.

With Bagnaia point finishes in the Spring race and grand prix he retakes the lead in the riders championship race. Marco Bezzecchi remains second and the KTM Racing riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller move up to 3rd and 4th respectively.

Top 10 finishers

1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ita) Ducati 39mins 29.085secs
2. Brad Binder (SA) KTM +0.221secs
3. Jack Miller (Aus) KTM +1.119
4. Jorge Martin (Spa) Ducati +1.942
5. Aleix Espargaro (Spa) Aprilia +4.760
6. Luca Marini (Ita) Ducati +6.329,
7. Daniel Pedrosa (Spa) KTM +6.371
8. Alex Marquez (Spa) Ducati +14.952
9. Takaaki Nakagami (Jpn) Honda +15.692
10. Fabio Quartararo (Fra) Yamaha +15.846

Current Championship Standings

The MotoGP world was turned upside down again as KTM Racing rider Brad Binder secured his second Sprint Race win of the season. KTM Jack Miller was also in the mix in an intense battle at the front of the field. The two exchanged positions throughout the race, but a late lunge down in Turn 6 secured the win for Binder. It was an overall successful day for KTM Racing wth Jack Miller rounding out the podium in third. Francesco Bagnaia stole second place away on the final lap while the KTMs were involved in their scrap for first. Bagnaia was able to double draft the two to make up one place.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) came together and set off a chain reaction that took out championship leader Marco Bezzecchi and Augusto Fernandez. Morbidelli was abel to continue but finished in P16. Bezzecchi was able to salvage a P9 finish and Augusto Fernandez finished P17 for GasGas Factory racing.

Alex Espargaro was involved in a self induced crash that saw his race finished. Fabio Quartarao started the race by gaining 8 positions after starting from 16th. He later fell to 12th in yet another disappointing finish for the Frenchman. He qualified in his lowest position ever for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Full Spanish Grand Prix Sprint Race Results are Below

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