Marco Bezzecchi snatches a podium finish despite the difficulty: "I struggled with the front end right from the start."

He suffered, but he's here. Marco Bezzecchi finished third in the Sprint at the French Grand Prix in Le Mans, a race he sums up bluntly: "It was a tough sprint. I struggled with the front end from the start, took some risks and made a few mistakes, and unfortunately he overtook me and I wasn't able to follow him, so I lost ground lap after lap." The "he" in question is Francesco Bagnaia, who regained the lead on the number 72 Aprilia after being overtaken in the early laps. The Italian then had to fight to hold onto third place against pressure from Pedro Acosta in the final laps, never able to aim higher.

The start had offered an opportunity. Marco Bezzecchi had inserted himself into the battle at the front in the first few corners, but a slight error under braking at the Dunlop chicane put him in a bad position at the worst possible moment: "I had a big jolt because I didn't brake properly going in and I went a bit wide, so I wasn't really in a good position for braking into the chicane." As for Jorge Martín's lightning start from eighth place, the Italian driver said he heard a noise and anticipated an overtake, without expecting it to be the Spaniard: "He always starts very, very quickly."

A rare, and therefore precious, result.

This podium finish takes on a special significance given the context. When asked about not having finished many sprints this season, Marco Bezzecchi didn't try to dodge the question: "That's why it's good. Finally." A frank assessment that speaks volumes about the difficult weeks he went through before this Le Mans weekend – he had crashed three times in four Sprint races prior to this event. Finishing, scoring points, and doing it from the podium, was exactly what the Italian needed to reignite his momentum on Saturday.

From a general classification perspective, he concedes a few points to his teammate but gains valuable ground on his other direct rivals. The world championship leader, however, tempers any enthusiasm: "It's still early. After all, this is only the fifth race. There are still many more to go." Sunday will be a different story. Regarding tire choice, the Italian is clear: a soft rear tire if the track is dry, and an unknown for the front depending on the temperatures, but probably the hard tire. If rain arrives—as the weather forecast seems to predict—it will be a different matter altogether. This could level the playing field and perhaps offer him the opportunity to make the "step forward" he hopes to achieve for the main race.

Comments collected by Michaël Duforest, in Le Mans.

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