Marc Márquez goes to the ground when defending the second place of a French GP in which Bezzecchi flies

The French Grand Prix, the 1,000th event in the history of the motorcycle World Championship left a very complete and entertaining race with more than 116,000 spectators vibrating in the stands: vibrating with Fabio Quartararo, the local hero, seventh, much to his regret; vibrating with Márquez, the idol of the masses; vibrating with an Italian godson of Valentino Rossi who faces a title candidate. Marco Bezzecchi's recital, which saw the checkered flag waved by the myth Giacomo Agostini, allowed him to win with authority and comfort on a podium full of satellite ducatis. The winner, who remains one point from the lead, took more than four seconds from Jorge Martín and Johann Zarco in a high-voltage and very bumpy test.

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Marc Márquez, one of the great protagonists of the weekend, went to the ground on the penultimate lap, when he tried to defend the second position and after maintaining an electric duel with Martín. After the fourth overtaking of the Spaniard, the Cervera went a tad long, the bike a nerve, and could not control the front train in the seventh corner: he fell hopelessly. And he looked at the sky, disappointed, from the gravel. Once again I had found the limit of the Honda after riding all the time in leading positions, the podium in my pocket. Behind, lost in qualifying, also fell his teammates Joan Mir and Alex Rins.

I was making a run! In podium positions and fighting to be second...

... But it ended up on the ground ❌ Marc Marquez's crash at Le Mans #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/MXBz3bCttO

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) May 14, 2023

The good role of the eight-time world champion, who had them all throughout his first weekend of competition in a month and a half – the Catalan returned to the races after breaking the fifth metacarpal of his left hand – ended in slippage after signing a remarkable second position on the grid and a fifth place in the sprint race Saturday. On Sunday, a great start allowed him to lead after the first corner, but the pace of Jack Miller's KTM was superior and on the third lap he gave up the race lead. Then, from behind, came the fireworks.

With Marc comfortable in second place, a Maverick Viñales on the rise ripped the stickers from Pecco Bagnaia, who wanted to immediately return the move in an impossible point and caused a touch that ended in disaster on the fifth lap. The number one and the Roses rider (third and fourth until the incident in question) hooked up with such bad luck that the Aprilia rider could not avoid him when he tried to lift the bike to save the fall. In the gravel and with the warmth of the double touch, both sang the forty and exchanged a couple of slaps with the helmet on. Despite the accumulated tension, both returned together in a commissary's scooter. More calm, already in the paddock, they agreed to shake hands.

WHAT IS THIS?! 🤯 Maverick Viñales and Pecco Bagnaia go to the ground... and end up facing each other! 😯 🇫🇷 #FrenchGP #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/1EH824NK5J

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) May 14, 2023

In the blink of an eye, another dangerous fall of Luca Marini caused the impact of Álex Márquez, who was lucky after lying on the track and avoiding the peloton that followed him. With four of the six riders in the front group eliminated, the race gave a second chance to a Martin who had fallen from third to tenth place on the first lap. Bezzecchi, who started seventh, looked stronger than anyone and wanted to pull out the hammer with some haste.

An overtaking of the winner on 93 was sanctioned by the stewards, who forced him to lose a position on the ninth lap. Despite the mess, the Italian had plenty of pace and went for Miller, whom he overtook on the eleventh turn. The Australian fell to lead in the second section of the test and Márquez was left rowing alone in second position, harassed only by Martin. Comfortable in the melee, the Honda prop was able to draw positive conclusions despite the new zero that leaves him 82 points behind the leader after five appointments.

In the 1,000th event, MotoGP was able to celebrate a record attendance in its history: 278,805 spectators visited the Le Mans circuit in the middle of an impressive atmosphere after a weekend to take heart with the spectacle lived. In addition to the prominence of Márquez and the unappealable triumph of Bezzecchi, the great role of the only rookie of the course also deserved the applause of the stands. Mallorcan Augusto Fernandez, last year's Moto2 champion, led the GasGas to fourth place in his fifth premier class race.

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