Zarco takes dream home victory in frantic race

Johann Zarco scored a sensational and emotional victory in a chaotic, mixed-weather edition of his home MotoGP French Grand Prix.

While the LCR Honda rider streaked to victory by almost 20 seconds on a bizarre day at Le Mans, factory Ducati star Marc Marquez consolidated his championship lead with a steady second place.

The six-time champion’s chief title rivals, Alex Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, both crashed out of the race, leaving Marc with a 22-point lead over his brother in second.

Zarco’s win also meant Ducati fell at the final hurdle in its bid to break the record of 22 consecutive MotoGP grand prix victories. 

There was irony in Honda halting that run, as it was the Japanese marque that would have lost the record it set in the 1990s. Ducati and Honda will now share the record into 2026 at the earliest. 

Behind Marc Marquez, Fermin Aldeguer took his first MotoGP grand prix podium, which followed the Gresini Ducati rider’s first top-three sprint result on Saturday.

The 34-year-old Zarco’s win looked highly unlikely at the start of the first lap, when he was caught up in a chain reaction at the Dunlop chicane. The man from Cannes was forced to run across the gravel and dropped as low as 17th as a result.

But Zarco started the race on exactly the right tyres. Most other riders did not play the changeable conditions in quite such straightforward fashion, resulting in two starts and a string of double long-lap penalties issued for ‘leaving the grid’.

Many, including Marc Marquez, also changed from dry to wet bikes early in the race. All of this added up to put Zarco in a healthy lead by lap eight. 

From there, the Honda rider used all of his experience to not only hold the lead over Marc Marquez but to stretch it to proportions unusual for any MotoGP race.

He looked after his tyres perfectly in the changing conditions as Marc settled for a healthy points haul on a day he described as “crazy”.

“I never have believed it would happen like this,” said Zarco. “It was magic.”

His fellow Frenchman Fabio Quartararo started the day as the far more likely winner, as the Yamaha rider had taken pole position.

But Quartararo made similar strategy mistakes to the other front-runners before crashing out on the fourth lap.

Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

The initial attempt to start the race was delayed after the majority of riders headed for the pits to change to wet tyres at the end of the warm-up lap.

In accordance with the rules clarified just a few days ago in the wake of the Americas Grand Prix debacle, the red flag was thrown because more than 10 riders would have started the race from the pits.

This led to a quick-start procedure. However, the weather had once again changed by the time the sighting lap for this came around, and the majority of the field headed for the pits once again to change back to dry-weather machinery and tyres.

This meant they started the warm-up lap from the pits. As the latest regulations had also clarified, that meant a double long-lap penalty for the likes of both Marquez brothers, Quartararo and numerous other front-runners.

The usual favourites’ woes were then compounded by the fact that the rain returned in the early going, meaning they had to visit the pits once again after the race had finally started.

Zarco made it look a lot more simple, showing absolutely no signs of letting victory slip through his grasp once he had the lead. 

Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt

Alex Marquez looked a safe bet for third place behind his brother until he fell at Dunlop on lap 21, which allowed Pedro Acosta into a podium position. 

But the KTM rider could do nothing to prevent the flying Aldeguer from passing him on the penultimate lap.

The Spaniard therefore settled for fourth ahead of team-mate and fellow countryman Maverick Vinales. 

Honda had some bonus joy when its wild card rider Takaaki Nakagami came home in sixth place in his first appearance of 2025.

MotoGP French Grand Prix results