LE MANS, France, May 9 (Reuters) - Aprilia's Jorge Martin pulled off a stunning charge from eighth on the grid to win Saturday's French Grand Prix sprint, closing the gap on championship leader and teammate Marco Bezzecchi while world champion Marc Marquez crashed out spectacularly.
Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia, who started from pole position, finished second and Bezzecchi claimed third for his first sprint podium of the season.
Martin's victory, a record 18th sprint success for the 2024 champion, moved the Spaniard to within six points of Bezzecchi in the standings ahead of Sunday's main race.
Martin's remarkable comeback began with a blistering start as he sliced through the field before overtaking a group of riders on the outside with surgical precision.
"I love this track. Today, I struggled a bit in qualifying, but I knew my potential was much higher," a beaming Martin said.
"I just put all my determination into the start. I didn't expect to be (in) first position in the second corner, but from that point, I just pushed like in the past, like what I am used to."
Bagnaia was initially pushed down to third but the polesitter managed to capitalise when Bezzecchi went wide, moving up to second.
But Marquez, who had broken the lap record in qualifying, was unable to match race pace and fell down to seventh by lap three.
Up front, Martin led Bagnaia by more than a second by the halfway mark, with the Italian struggling to catch up.
"The pace was good, so really happy. We're still missing something compared to Aprilia, but we're improving," Bagnaia said after picking up his third straight sprint silver medal.
With one lap to go, Marquez suffered a nasty highside crash and the world champion was thrown off his bike, which cartwheeled through the air before landing beside him.
Marquez had planted his right foot on the track just before he was thrown off his bike and the 33-year-old was seen hopping on one leg before he was taken for medical checks with his participation in Sunday's race in doubt.
KTM's Pedro Acosta was fourth and home favourite Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha rounded out the top five.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ed Osmond)
