Marco Bezzecchi holds on to the podium: the World Championship leader's admission

After finishing third in Saturday’s Sprint, Marco Bezzecchi finished second in Sunday’s French GP, overtaken by teammate Jorge Martin in the very last laps. The Romagnolo retains the leadership of the overall MotoGp standings, with a one-length lead right over ‘Martinator’: to the official MotoGp channels he described his feelings admitting that, result aside, the French weekend was anything but easy.

“It was a difficult race overall: honestly I never really felt comfortable – told ‘Bez’ -. I didn’t even expect to stay in the lead for so many laps: I really tried hard to stay in front, but in the last 6‑7 I felt a few too many problems especially with grip and, when I saw Jorge overtake Acosta, I didn’t want to take any more risks. I didn’t want to throw it all away, this podium is enough for me, it was really the best I could do today.”

Bezzecchi confirmed that it was the grip of the tires that made the difference in the last few laps: “Towards the end Jorge had more grip, an aspect that gave him more speed. I tried to do what I could but I couldn’t force it in the same way, I also wore out the tire more. Anyway it’s okay: the weekend was complicated, with this result I certainly can’t complain. I want to thank the team for all the support they continue to give me.”

At Le Mans it was Aprilia’s day, which for the first time in history placed three of its bikes on the podium: behind Jorge Martin and Marzo Bezzecchi was in fact Ai Ogura, who led the Trackhouse Racing team’s RS-GP 2026 in third, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio’s Ducati and Pedro Acosta’s KTM.