MotoGP 2026: Aprilia Racing’s Jorge Martin wins the French Grand Prix

Aprilia Racing’s Jorge Martin is a Grand Prix winner after 588 days! After suffering multiple injuries and a painful recovery, ‘The Martinator’ was finally standing on the top step of the podium at the French Grand Prix.

Mega Martin!

As the lights went out, the front runners, including Pecco Bagnaia on the factory Ducati, Marco Bezzecchi on the factory Aprilia, and Pedro Acosta on the factory KTM, made a quick getaway. The chasing pack, including Martin, was in hot pursuit. However, it was Martin who was making quick progress up the field. As the laps progressed, Martin overtook the field, chased down his teammate and championship rival Marco Bezzecchi in the closing laps to seal an emotional win after an injury-hit 2025 season.

Aprilia dominates at Le Mans

Aprilia enjoyed a dream result in France with a complete podium lockout. Bezzecchi finished second, just 0.477 seconds behind Martin, while rookie sensation Ai Ogura secured his maiden MotoGP podium in third place for the Trackhouse Aprilia squad.

The rest of the pack

The French GP proved difficult for Ducati. Francesco Bagnaia failed to convert pole position into a podium finish, while reigning world champion Marc Marquez was absent from Sunday’s race after suffering injuries in a crash during the sprint race on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fourth ahead of Pedro Acosta, while home favourite Fabio Quartararo ended the race in sixth position.

Championship battle

With the victory, Martin significantly closed the gap to championship leader Bezzecchi, setting up an intense intra-Aprilia title fight for the remainder of the 2026 MotoGP season. The next race will be held in Catalunya from 15–17 May.