LE MANS: Jorge Martin raced through the pack heading into the first corner and then pulled away from the field to win the MotoGP sprint race at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans on Saturday.
Behind him, reigning world champion Marc Marquez endured a nightmare day.
The Spaniard started on the front row but had slipped to seventh before going off in a violent crash with less than two laps of the 13-lap race to go.
Marquez slid along the ground as his disintegrating Ducati cartwheeled just past him.
Martin, who jumped from eighth to first at the start on his Aprilia, finished comfortably ahead of Italian Francesco Bagnaia on the second factory Ducati.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi was third in the warm, sunny conditions.
The weekend’s racing continues with Sunday’s main race when rain is forecast.