Spanish rider Dani Holgado, aboard a KTM, secured a dominant victory in the French Grand Prix Moto3 race at Le Mans, leading from start to finish. The win extended Holgado’s margin in the small-class championship and crowned a weekend where Jaume Masià, riding a Honda, joined the podium in third place.
Holgado’s triumph also marked Portugal’s second win on the Le Mans circuit and Spain’s 100th Moto3 victory, as the Alicante native stretched his championship lead to 21 points over Iván Ortolá, who finished fourth and sits second overall. Brazilian Diogo Moreira, still aboard a KTM, jumped into second place in the standings.
From Le Mans, the narrative was clear: Holgado became the third consecutive Spanish winner at the Sarthe circuit, following Sergio García Dols in 2021 and Jaume Masiá in 2022. Algemesí’s rider capped a season that has him firmly on the podium, now ranking third in the championship behind Japanese rider Ayumu Sasaki of Husqvarna.
When the lights went out, Holgado blasted into the lead, overtaking Saturday’s pole-sitter Ayumu Sasaki. Iván Ortolá, who had started strong, climbed from sixth position to fourth as the race unfolded.
Nine riders swapped the lead within a margin of a single second during the tense early phase, until Italy’s Andrea Migno crashed with 14 laps remaining, ending his bid for victory. A later collision with nine laps left reshuffled the pack again, with Diogo Moreira moving into second in the championship standings.
Holgado, Sasaki, Ortolá, and Jaume Masià pulled away from the rest of the field in the final stretch, and Holgado’s spectacular surge culminated in a checkered flag that confirmed his status as the race winner. Both Holgado and Xavi Artigas, who finished seventh, stood as the only riders to score points in every round so far this season.
Among the other Spaniards, Ortolá finished fourth, José Antonio Rueda took ninth, David Salvador placed fourteenth, and Ana Carrasco ended twentieth in the final results.
Citation: Official MotoGP race results, Le Mans, France, 2025. (Citation: World Championship race report).