Quartararo (Yamaha), who came fourth, retains the lead in the world championship with four small points ahead of the Spaniard Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), 3rd on Sunday, and eight over Bastianini, again third in the general classification.

Starting fifth behind Quartararo and Espargaro, Bastianini (Ducati-Gresini) quickly got the upper hand over his rivals to come face the factory Ducatis of Australian Jack Miller, whom he overtook at halfway, and Bagnaia, then leading the race.

In the fight for victory against his compatriot who started on pole, Bastianini took advantage of an error by the official Ducati rider, under pressure as the gap between the two riders was small, to take the reins of the race and thus win his third victory of the season in seven rounds, after Qatar and the GP of the Americas.

"I'm really happy with this race because this victory is unexpected, the weekend was complicated (...), during the race I saw that my pace was really good", reacted the winner.

Bagnaia, to whom second place seemed promised a few laps from the finish, made another mistake a few moments later, leading to the fall - then to the retirement of the Italian.

Under the heat and the sun – the expected rain did not finally play the spoilsports – Bastianini was well ahead of Jack Miller and Aleix Espargaro at the finish.

Starting 4th, Fabio Quartararo, reigning world champion, fell to eighth place at the start of the race before finding himself in the fight for the podium with his rival in the general classification, without ever managing to gain the upper hand.

"It was a super difficult race, the most difficult of the season so far (...), I knew Fabio was behind me but I knew it was difficult for him to pass me (...) racing was about not making mistakes," Espargaro explained at the finish.

110,000 spectators

Carried by the clamor of more than 110,000 spectators who came to the meeting, the other Frenchman in the event, Johann Zarco (Ducati-Pramac) ranked 5th after having notably overtaken the six-time Spanish world champion Marc Marquez (Honda ).

Italian Enea Bastianini 2022 winner of the French GP at Le Mans, May 15, 2022 JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER AFP

Despite a sixth fastest time in qualifying on Saturday, the Cannes native started ninth on the grid because of a three-place penalty received for "irresponsible" behavior (he was notably held responsible for having hindered the Spaniard Pol Espargaro, Aleix's brother, during qualifying).

Besides Bagnaia, other riders were forced to retire: the two KTM-Tech3 riders, Australian Remy Gardner and Spaniard Raul Fernandez, Jorge Martin (Ducati-Pramac) and Miguel Oliveira (KTM).

The Spaniards of Suzuki, who this week confirmed that they want to leave MotoGP at the end of the season, Alex Rins and Joan Mir have also fallen.

In Moto2, the Spaniard Augusto Fernandez (KTM Ajo) notably took advantage of the retirement of his compatriot Pedro Acosta, who started in the lead, to sign his first victory of the season, far ahead of the Italian Celestino Vietti (VR46), 8th but who remains at the top of the championship.

In Moto3, the Spaniard Jaume Masia (KTM Ajo) won a race interrupted on the first lap by the rain which began to fall on the track.

The leader in the championship, the other Spaniard Sergio Garcia (Gasgas), 7th at the end of the event, retains his rank in the general classification, ahead of his new runner-up Masia.

© 2022 AFP