Bagnaia dominates French GP, extends championship lead

Francesco Bagnaia powered to another Moto2 victory at the French GP at Le Mans, holding off Alex Marquez to make it four podiums in the opening five races, as well as three wins in the season. It was the first time ever that he has won from pole position and the second time in 2018 that the Moto2 winner has come from pole position.

With Lorenzo Baldassarri getting a poor start and Xavi Vierge having to start from the back of the grid instead of his P2 slot, Bagnaia and Marquez were away and running at the front of the field, followed by Marcel Schrotter, Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira and Joan Mir after lap one.

After his poor start, Spanish GP winner Lorenzo Baldassarri was making his way back through the field until a crash at turn two, out of fifth place. This marked his first DNF of the season and sees him slip to fourth in the title race.

Bagnaia edged away as the race wore on, but it would be Joan Mir grabbing the headlines as he moved into third place on lap 14, putting himself on the Moto2 podium for the first time, alongside Bagnaia and Marquez.

Xavi Vierge finished a hard-earned fifth, behind teammate Schrotter and ahead of Miguel Oliveira. Romano Fenati was a sensational 7th, his first top 10 in Moto2. Fabio Quartararo dazzled the French fans with an 8th place, with South African Brad Binder in 9th. One of the rides of the day went to Stefano Manzi, who finished an astonishing 10th after an eighth row qualifying position, taking his first top 10 since Silverstone last year

The championship standings take a different route now, with Bagnaia now holding a 25 point lead heading to his home race at Mugello. Oliveira is 2nd with Alex Marquez six points further back. Baldassarri sits 34 points off Bagnaia whilst Mattia Pasini’s no-point-scoring round means he is a distant 40 behind.