The Ducati Lenovo Team scored a second-place finish in the fifth Sprint of the season at Le Mans courtesy of Francesco Bagnaia. Marc Márquez was forced out of contention on the penultimate lap due to a crash, which brought his French weekend to an early end.
Bagnaia – from pole position – found himself in third place at the exit of the first chicane. After moving up to second position on lap three, he continued to lap at an excellent pace but was unable to make up for the ground lost in the early stages. Márquez, second on the grid, struggled in the opening laps and lost five positions. On lap twelve, Marc suffered a highside at turn 14 which resulted in a fracture to the fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action tomorrow morning at 10:40 local time (GMT +2) for the warm up, which will be followed by the 27-lap Grand Prix of France, getting underway at 14:00.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“We’re happy because we made a clear step forward compared to the previous race. I lost a little bit of the initial drive off the line as the front lifted, but I was able to make up one position at turn one. My pace was similar to Jorge’s (Martín), and because of this I wasn’t able to catch him. We still lack something under acceleration and we’ll focus on it ahead of tomorrow. We already tested the pace over race distance and we’re among the quickest, even though it looks like tomorrow’s conditions will be very different.”
Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – DNF
“Today’s injury is a fracture to the fifth metatarsal in my right foot and I’ll need surgery. I hadn’t announced it before, but I already had surgery scheduled for my right shoulder after the Catalan Grand Prix because after Jerez I realised something wasn’t right. Following further medical checks, it was found that — due to the crash in Indonesia — one screw is broken while another is bent in an unusual way. The latter ends up touching the radial nerve, which is very important for the arm, and this explains the recent issues and crashes. Now we need to take it easy, as it’s going to be a long surgery, remain positive and see how the situation evolves.”
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