MotoGP: Martin back to winning form as Michelin shines at Le Mans
The MICHELIN Grand Prix de France (Round 5 of the 2026 FIM MotoGPTM World Championship) was won by Jorge Martin after a perfect weekend for the Aprilia Racing rider. Having won the previous day's sprint, the 2024 champion finished clear of team-mate Marco Bezzecchi and TrackHouse MotoGP Team's Ai Ocura to spearhead an all-Aprilia top-three. In unsettled weather, Michelin's tires rose to the challenge to provide the riders with performance, grip and consistency and the 311,000 spectators with a memorable show. Read on for more about happened at the FrenchGP...
Exactly 588 days after his last grand prix success, Martin got to savor victory once more at Le Mans, home of the MICHELIN Grand Prix de France.
From seventh on the grid, he succeeded in moving up the order on a front/rear combination of hard and soft MICHELIN Power Slicks. His determination and consistency paid off when he found a way past Bezzecchi (2nd) to take the lead on the 25th of the race's 27 laps. He went on to beat his team-mate by a margin of 0.47 seconds and earn Aprilia's first victory at Le Mans after shaving 5.7s off the previous shortest race-duration benchmark set in 2024.
The Aprilia Racing duo was chased over the line by Ogura who claimed the first podium result of his MotoGPTM career, becoming the first Japanese rider to secure a top-three finish in 14 years. The afternoon's top-five was rounded out by Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
Michelin's tires performed strongly all weekend, initially helping Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) to clock a new track record (1m29.288s) during Q1.
Saturday's sprint took place in hot, sunny weather that prompted the majority of the grid to pair the hard front MICHELIN Power with the soft rear.
The conditions for the next day's showpiece were much more unsettled and a storm swept over the French circuit late in the morning. However, the asphalt was entirely dry for the grand prix as the track-temperature climbed to 26°C.
Like the three riders behind Aprilia's monopoly of the podium, many of their rivals combined the hard front with the soft rear, although some preferred the soft front as the mechanics made last-minute set-up adjustments during the build-up to the start.
Bezzecchi continues to top the provisional Riders' standings on 128 points, albeit just one point clear of Martin. Di Giannantonio (84) is third.
Next round: Monster Energy Grand Prix of Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain (May 15-17).