MotoGP

Joan Mir's manager Paco Sanchez says MotoGP riders “merit” having a minimum base salary implemented into any contracts “because they play with their lives”.

“All the factory riders are beyond this. “And MotoGP riders are the stars of this world. “We forget sometimes, but they are playing with their lives.

Gresini's Enea Bastianini stormed to his third win of the 2022 MotoGP season in a dramatic French Grand Prix after long-time leader Francesco Bagnaia ...

Bastianini hounded Bagnaia in the latter stages of the race and made his move for the lead into the Dunlop chicane on lap 21 of 27. Behind, Joan Mir on the sole-remaining Suzuki was up into the podium battle and was closing down Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro for third when he crashed on lap 15 to compound a disastrous weekend for Suzuki in light of its decision to quit MotoGP at the end of 2022. Miller and Bagnaia pulled away by around a second at the start of the fourth tour, with Bagnaia taking the lead from his Ducati team-mate into Turn 6 when the Australian ran wide on lap four.

Australia's Jack Miller has missed out on a first win of the 2022 MotoGP season after some costly mistakes, but he held on for a second-place at Le Mans.

Championship leader and defending champion Fabio Quartararo was fourth, behind Aleix Espargaro. Enea Bastianini, seeing Bagnaia beginning to pull away out the front, made his move on Miller with 16 laps remaining to relegate the Aussie to third. Australia’s Jack Miller has missed out on a first win of the 2022 MotoGP season after some costly mistakes, but he held on for a second-place at Le Mans.

Gresini Racing's Enea Bastianini scored a dominant third victory of the 2022 season in the FrenchGP at Le Mans on Sunday.

Miller safe in second by a further 1.5s as Quartararo continued to circulate on the wheels of the RS-GP in the battle for third. Five laps left to run with a world champion two-tenths adrift of his rear wheel and the second Frenchman four seconds back in fifth. Ducati continued to dominate after nine laps around the 4.2km layout as Bagnaia, Miller and Bastianini held over a second clear of Mir in fourth. Bastianini trailed by Joan Mir and Espargaro as Quartararo circulated almost a second adrift in the top six. Repsol’s Pol Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira running just adrift as the second lap concluded with Rins crashing out of podium contention at the Dunlop Chicane having tracked through the gravel at high speed. Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia launching from pole ahead of Lenovo teammate Miller and Aprilia’s Espargaro with Quartararo and Pramac’s Johann Zarco starting fourth and ninth respectively in the 68-year hunt for a French winner on home soil.

Aleix Espargaro fastest in Le Mans MotoGP warm-up as pre-race favourite Fabio Quartararo once again shows searing pace.

There was a late fall for Enea Bastianini as the Gresini Ducati rider suddenly lost the front-end on entry to turn 3. Struggles for the eight-time world champion continued as Marquez was only 11th at the time of his return to pit lane. Despite a dry weekend to this stage, the threat of rain is very possible for the start of the 27 lap race, meaning the second flag-to-flag race in two years at Le Mans could take place.

Enea Bastianini grabbed his third MotoGP victory in seven races this season as he took the French Grand Prix on Sunday.

Bastianini overtook compatriot Francesco Bagnaia in the late stages when the factory Ducati rider made an error. "It was a very difficult race, the most difficult of the season so far," said Espargaro. "I knew Fabio was behind me but I knew it was difficult for him to overtake me," said Espargaro. "The race was about not making mistakes."

It was disappointment for poleman Dennis Foggia as he missed out on the podium following a stunning last lap at a restarted French GP.

Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) ended the day eighth, ahead of Öncü with Migno rounding out the top 10. ????— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) @jaume_masiawins it on the last corner! GASGAS Aspar duo Sergio Garcia and Izan Guevara were joined in the gravel by Sasaki, Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Riccardo Rossi (SI58 Squadra Corse) as the spits of rain began to play havoc. That gave Masia a couple tenths of breathing space out front, but it didn’t last long as he was soon reeled in by Foggia and Sasaki at S Bleu with just over three laps to go. Behind Masia, Garcia had moved up to second after getting past the Leopard Hondas, while Öncü in P4 had entered the podium conversation. La Musee is another hot spot for overtaking, and that’s where Sasaki picked off Foggia, relegating the poleman to third. With a new race distance of 14 laps set, it was always going to be a tight affair with the sun shining again, and so it proved. The Italian tried to return the favour one lap later, but Aki Ajo’s prized asset was in control of the race and fended him off. The Dunlop Chicane is always a popular overtaking spot and Masia lined up a successful attempt for the lead. The threat of rain loomed large over Le Mans on Sunday, and we saw the effects just a few spits of rain can have on the asphalt as the Red Flags were waving by the end of the opening lap. Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) and Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) were the first to go before five riders went down in simultaneous but separate crashes. ???? #Moto3

The Ajo KTM squad enjoyed double delight at the MotoGP French Grand Prix, as Jaume Masia and Augusto Fernandez took the spoils in the Moto3 and Moto2 races.

Due to the rain, the race was red-flagged and restarted over 14 laps. After an intense 14-lap battle in dry conditions, it was Ajo KTM’s Jaume Masia who prevailed to take his second win of the season after pulling off a daring move to retake a lead he held for much of the race from Sasaki on the last lap. The Moto3 race began in chaotic fashion as rain began to fall from the opening lap of 22, with drama striking at the final corner.

Race results from the French MotoGP at Le Mans, round 7 of the 2022 world championship.

A nightmare weekend for the home Tech3 team was complete when both Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez crashed out in the early stages. Team-mate Joan Mir was thus the only remaining Suzuki, in fourth. Espargaro prevailed, for his third podium in a row. With 16 laps to go, Bastianini spotted Bagnaia escaping and promptly passed Miller to stay in contact with his fellow Italian, while Mir made it both GSX-RRs on the floor with a lowside at mid-distance. Much worse was to follow at the end of the lap when Bagnaia crashed out of second through the slow left-handers, signalling his second DNF of the season and yet another blow to his already flagging title hopes. Enea Bastianini wins the French MotoGP at Le Mans to continue his dream season with the Gresini team, while Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of their victory duel with six laps to go.

A Pecco Bagnaia crash handed victory on a plate to the Gresini rider with Jack Miller and Aleix Espargaro also on the podium in Le Mans.

Coming in fifth was Zarco, who displayed some excellent pace throughout, and it looks to be a case of what could have been for the man from Cannes. Marquez rounds out the top six while Nakagami can be pleased with another seventh place finish. From there, Bastianini just had to keep it steady to bring home his third victory of the year, while Miller was comfortable in second. Next up for MotoGP™ is the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello, where we’re sure to see even more twists and turns in this fascinating World Championship. After a settled number of laps, the victory fight sparked into life as Bastianini began to swarm all over the rear end of Bagnaia out front. Bagania and Rins had both picked off Bastianini to drop him out of the podium places, though for the GSX-RR, his race ambitions would come crashing to a halt at the beginning of the third lap. However, the Aprilia rider still had work to do as he was still 1.1s away from Miller in third. The fight wasn’t over though, with Bastianini forcing an error from his Ducati counterpart at Garage Vert, with Pecco running it wide and dropping to P2. That blunder left a second between them and in an effort to reel in the satellite rider, Bagnaia pushed it too hard around the final corner and slid into the gravel and out of the race. As a result, it was a Ducati one-two-three with the factory riders building up a gap out front. Bastinaini’s tyre conservation is renowned within the paddock, and coming up to the midway point, it was a matter of when rather than if he would overtake Miller, who was using a soft-soft combination. ???? #FrenchGP???????? pic.twitter.com/j1rhsELtVq May 15, 2022 Miller got the perfect launch from the line to take the holeshot ahead of Bastianini, who had fought his way through from the second row. For the third time this season, Enea Bastianini is a MotoGP™ race winner.

MotoGP: "I saw he was on my train, and I let him do it. If I had seen a Ducati, it would have been different. I have an incredible pace, it won't be easy to ...

”I think I have a better pace than Jerez, where both Pecco and I were really fast. I think I have something more on the pace, and that's why I feel calm in view of the race. I know I have a chance." I have the pace to fight for a victory. I haven't really checked everyone's pace yet, but the guys in the front of the grid are really fast. Yet the Fabio who meets reporters at the end of qualifying is smiling and satisfied, aware of having the best pace in his hands with a wide margin to his advantage.

Joan Mir's manager Paco Sanchez says MotoGP riders “merit” having a minimum base salary implemented into any contracts “because they play with their lives”.

“All the factory riders are beyond this. “And MotoGP riders are the stars of this world. “We forget sometimes, but they are playing with their lives.

Gresini's Enea Bastianini stormed to his third win of the 2022 MotoGP season in a dramatic French Grand Prix after long-time leader Francesco Bagnaia ...

Bastianini hounded Bagnaia in the latter stages of the race and made his move for the lead into the Dunlop chicane on lap 21 of 27. Behind, Joan Mir on the sole-remaining Suzuki was up into the podium battle and was closing down Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro for third when he crashed on lap 15 to compound a disastrous weekend for Suzuki in light of its decision to quit MotoGP at the end of 2022. Miller and Bagnaia pulled away by around a second at the start of the fourth tour, with Bagnaia taking the lead from his Ducati teammate into Turn 6 when the Australian ran wide on lap four.

Gresini Ducati rider Enea Bastianini scored his third victory of the 2022 MotoGP season in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, while Francesco Bagnaia crashed ...

Enea Bastianini Aleix Espargaro Fabio Quartararo Joan Mir Alex Rins Marco Bezzecchi Johann Zarco Jack Miller Jorge Martin Marc Marquez Takaaki Nakagami Maverick Viñales Brad Binder Luca Marini Pol Espargaro Miguel Oliveira Fabio Di Giannantonio Alex Marquez Franco Morbidelli Andrea Dovizioso Remy Gardner Raúl Fernández Darryn Binder Jack Miller Aleix Espargaro Fabio Quartararo Johann Zarco Marc Marquez Takaaki Nakagami Brad Binder Luca Marini Maverick Viñales Pol Espargaro Marco Bezzecchi Fabio Di Giannantonio Alex Marquez Franco Morbidelli Andrea Dovizioso Darryn Binder Miguel Oliveira Francesco Bagnaia Jorge Martin Joan Mir Raúl Fernández Alex Rins Remy Gardner Jack Miller got the holeshot from second on the grid at the start of the race, but soon dropped behind polesitter Bagnaia on the sister factory Ducati and the fast-starting Gresini bike of Bastianini in third, paving the way for a two-horse race for victory.

French Grand Prix winner Enea Bastianini has suggested Francesco Bagnaia wouldn't pick him as his Ducati MotoGP team-mate for 2023 because “it could be a ...

“The only thing changed was that I raced with the medium. “But arriving into the second-last corner I arrived a bit slower and I crashed. “So, I tried to be in front of him as soon as possible. “I braked maybe too hard. But then I did a mistake in Turn 8. If it will be Enea, if it will be Martin for me it will be the same story.

Gresini Ducati rider Enea Bastianini scored his third victory of the 2022 MotoGP season in the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, while Francesco Bagnaia crashed ...

Enea Bastianini Aleix Espargaro Fabio Quartararo Joan Mir Alex Rins Marco Bezzecchi Johann Zarco Jack Miller Jorge Martin Marc Marquez Takaaki Nakagami Maverick Viñales Brad Binder Luca Marini Pol Espargaro Miguel Oliveira Fabio Di Giannantonio Alex Marquez Franco Morbidelli Andrea Dovizioso Remy Gardner Raúl Fernández Darryn Binder Jack Miller Aleix Espargaro Fabio Quartararo Johann Zarco Marc Marquez Takaaki Nakagami Brad Binder Luca Marini Maverick Viñales Pol Espargaro Marco Bezzecchi Fabio Di Giannantonio Alex Marquez Franco Morbidelli Andrea Dovizioso Darryn Binder Miguel Oliveira Francesco Bagnaia Jorge Martin Joan Mir Raúl Fernández Alex Rins Remy Gardner Jack Miller got the holeshot from second on the grid at the start of the race, but soon dropped behind polesitter Bagnaia on the sister factory Ducati and the fast-starting Gresini bike of Bastianini in third, paving the way for a two-horse race for victory.

Jack Miller is set to move from Ducati to KTM at the end of the 2022 MotoGP season, according to a report in Italian media. The Queenslander's place at the ...

However, whether he ends up at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing or Tech3 KTM Factory Racing, the latter of which is the satellite team despite its name and orange RC16 bikes, remains to be seen. Jack Miller is set to move from Ducati to KTM at the end of the 2022 MotoGP season, according to a report in Italian media. Since then, the threat has doubled with the rise of another satellite Ducati rider in Enea Bastianini, who sits third in the championship after picking up a third win of the season at the just-completed French Grand Prix on a 2021 model Desmosedici.

The Yamaha rider was expected to fight for victory on Sunday at Le Mans having shown the strongest race pace all weekend throughout the practice sessions.

So, in terms of speed I was fast.” “This is the most frustrating thing. “The only thing I can do is make no mistakes.

Jack Miller is no stranger to contract chatter, but there appears to be a twist in the tale as far as his future is concerned. Sky Sport Italia reports that he ...

He is close to doing so but, if the Portuguese rider were to move on, he would be replaced by ‘Jackass’. Until now, it had been suggested that he would return to Pramac, where he spent three years before getting the endorsement of a promotion to the factory Ducati outfit. Sky Sport Italia reports that he will be on the move to KTM at the end of the year.

The third step of the podium conquered at Le Mans allowed him to get even closer to Fabio Quartararo in the world championship standings, just after beating the ...

"I knew that getting close to Jack I had problems, so I knew that Fabio had the same problem. I did everything perfectly, blocking Fabio was not an easy strategy to do, but I knew he too would have problems with the front tyre as he was following me so closely ". You have to have fun on the track and then have fun off. In the end this is a show, I agreed to have the camera mounted on my shoulder and in fact I raced with one kilogram extra for the entire race, so I feel very tired. I think the positive thing about the Aprilia is the overall balance. So I knew that I just needed to make no mistakes and brake hard everywhere I lifted off to get on the podium ". "It was very difficult, I was fast but not enough to pass Mir or Miller - said Aleix in the press conference - I knew that today would be a race of survival, the track was very slippery. Then in the final part of the race I saw Fabio on the screens who was really close to me. He was better in the middle of the curve, so I knew that if I went wide in a corner even by just two meters he would pass me. "I think I can win this world championship, I will believe it until the very end. I don't know what to say about the contract. But a contract for the future has not yet been signed, and Aleix is starting to become impatient.

Suzuki's fortnight from hell, Aussie in the 'war zone': France MotoGP talking points.

“It’s easier and easier to admit that,” he said. “Enea is the only one to have won more than one race — three of them,” he said. “He is the man to beat at the moment. Rins, who was tied in the lead of the championship only two races ago, is 33 points adrift, while Mir’s campaign hasn’t really got going; he’s down in ninth and a further 13 back. “I think we’ve been one of the strongest today, and this also makes it painful. “We can finish fifth, sixth, seventh in a good race. “I think we can understand this better in the next races, but I’m happy because Ducati have offered me a good package. In truth, after he passed me again, the plan was to wait for the end to try again. “Today the crash has been painful mentally,” Mir said. Fast finishes are becoming the trademark style for the man they call the Beast, saving his tyres and devastating deploying them late in the race when others are trying to make it to the finish. It’s difficult to know which situation, both led by Bastianini on the 2021 bike, would’ve been a starker illustration of the Gresini rider’s form. It’s not just that he won but also who he beat: both factory Ducati riders.

Crash.net journalist Robert Jones runs through the field's rider ratings following a drama-filled French MotoGP at Le Mans.

Battling against the likes of Miller, Espargaro and Quartararo for a podium, Joan Mir made an uncharacteristic mistake as he crashed out from fourth. The Italian was 25 seconds down on team-mate Quartararo in what was another shocker for the 2020 runner-up. The Mooney VR46 rider was another who gained from plenty of crashes ahead of him, but it remained a good ride from the former Moto2 runner-up (2020). Espargaro is going to need a lot more in terms of performance and results if he wants to remain at Repsol Honda in 2023. Despite KTM being absolutely nowhere for pace, and arguably having the worst bike on the grid at the moment, Brad Binder produced another stunning Sunday performance as he moved up ten spots in the race. The Australian was unable to go with Bagnaia and Bastianini shortly after mid-race distance, however, it remained a strong performance from the three-time MotoGP race winner, and one that could be big in his efforts to keep hold of his factory ride.