2024 French Moto2 Grand Prix, Le Mans - Race Results

Round five of the Moto2 championship was dominated by Sergio Garcia as he broke away at the front of the French Moto2 Grand Prix at Le Mans for his second win of the season.

From a front row start the Spaniard got his MT Helmets - MSI bike away best at lights out, with a lead developing quickly.

The Boscoscuro rider pulled away and managed his lead, with several riders picking up second over the 22 laps to give chase. Garcia responded and maintained his gap, before his rivals showing their cards and racing for position on the final laps allowed him to extend his lead, which was 3.174 seconds over the line after a flawless race.

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Ai Ogura had once again qualified down in 17th, the third time he has started from that far down the grid. The Japanese rider also made an electric start, moving swiftly to eleventh after lap one, with further gains taking him to sixth around the halfway mark.

That allowed the #79 a chance to move into the lead group, with battles, errors and tyres bringing his Boscoscuro into play as the push forward continued.

Another series of clean, tidy moves culminated in Ogura taking Alonso Lopez exiting Garage Vert on the last lap, completing a huge comeback and a team 1-2 for MT Helmets - MSI. The duo celebrated with simultaneous wheelies down the back straight.

The podium had looked set before Aron Canet started to fade and Alonso Lopez took over in second and ran wide, brinign all the riders behind into play.

Lopez had put a big move on Joe Roberts earlier in the race to give himself a shot at the podium, and the American repaid the move in the last lap. The Folladore Speed Up rider held strong despite the push to complete an all Boscoscuro podium.

Roberts earlier tough move on the last lap on Canet had seen him in with a shout of a rostrum finish, giving as much fight as he could muster on the last lap, with the American Racing rider not afraid to pull out a hard move again. Lopez proved unmovable, leaving Roberts fourth.

Somkiat Chantra was at the back of the group and too passed Canet, the Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider completing his own strong run through the pack from 13th on the grid for a fifth place finish.

Canet falling back late on was understandable given his injuries - riding with a break in his leg with another huge crash after he claimed pole on Saturday not helping his recovery.

Again, the Fantic Racing rider got away at the lights poorly, giving himself work to do with a spirited ride taking him back up to second as he saw Garcia escaping an early highlight before he slipped back to sixth. Forced out wide onto the green by Roberts late in the race truly ended his hopes of a podium in France.

That run wide saw him almost back into the clutches of Fermin Aldeguer, who made the best of his poor qualifying to be leading the chasing group on the second Folladore Boscoscuro.

Aldeguer was a clear seventh, pulling away from Tony Arbolino who was also trying to make a move in the right direction after starting tenth, moving up to eighth for Elf Marc VDS.

The Italian was the latest rider to get the best of Albert Arenas who had to settle for ninth for Gresini, in turn clear of Izan Guevara, who completed the top ten for CFMOTO Inde Aspar.

Jeremy Alcoba was next to see the chequered flag in eleventh for Yamaha VR46 Master Camp, with Marc VDS rider Filip Salac just holding off top rookie Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP, 13th ) and his teammate Darryn Binder (14th) for twelfth over the line.

The final point on offer went to Marcos Ramirez for American Racing.

A race to forget for Dixon

Jake Dixon was already up against it, after having looked to have made progress with his issues at the Jerez test. A crash earlier in the Le Mans weekend saw him on the back foot once again.

Qualifying eleventh, the CFMOTO Inde Aspar rider went the wrong way, before fighting back up to 15th. Trying to move higher, Dixon was caught by Aguis, the contact sending him wide, finishing 17th.

Jaume Masia was the best of the most recent set on Moto3 graduates, just ahead in 16th for the Gas Up team.

Crashes, Injuries and Replacements

Barry Baltus was the first to exit, but was soon followed by frontrunner Manuel Gonzalez, who had a fiery start to the race, almost hitting Garcia, who went on to win. The Gresininrider had looked to have setted before exiting from fifth on lap five.

Zonta van den Goorbergh also failed to go the distance, with Diogo Moreira retiring to the pits with an issue.

Several riders were out of contention before race day.

Celestino Vietti was in Le Mans but declared unfit for Red Bull KTM Ajo. Alex Escrig took part in the first practice but withdrew, with pain from the injuries he is carrying. Jorge Navarro (20th) was called in again as a late replacement by the Klint Forward Factory Team.

Bo Bendsneyder was replaced by Daniel Munoz ( DNF) at the Gas Up team. Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s  Mario Aji missed the round to recover from arm pump surgery. He was not replaced.

Championship Standings

Victory sees Garcia take over from Joe Robert in the overall standings, leading the way with 89 points.

The American slips to second, eight points behind. Aldeguer remains third after picking up enough points, now on 63 - but fourth placed Ai Ogura has the same total after his stunning run through the pack for his first podium finish this season.