Zarco takes stunning home win in 71-year first

A record MotoGP crowd is singing in the rain after home hero Johann Zarco dominated the French Motorcycle Grand Prix from nowhere.

Zarco started 11^th and was as low as 17^th on the opening lap where he even toured the gravel having narrowly avoided a crash in tricky conditions at Le Mans.

But the decision to start on wets to avoid the double long lap penalty and extra bike change proved critical.

Whilst the heavyweights kept changing bikes and could not make their mind up, Zarco suddenly emerged in the lead and did not look back.

The LCR Honda veteran not only held his lead, but grew his advantage to beyond 20s with the home crowd willing him on every single lap to take the sweetest of wins.

It was a drought breaker for the struggling Honda, which had not won a MotoGP race since Austin 2023.

But it ended an even longer drought for the joyous home fans as Zarco became the first Frenchman since Pierre Monneret all the way back in 1954 to win at home.

The perfect combination of events left Zarco in tears as he performed the victory backflip with his people.

Whilst the 34-year-old from Cannes was rightly the centre of attention, it was also a big race in the championship battle.

Marc Marquez safely sewed up second ahead of Fermin Aldeguer, who stood on the podium for the first time.

However, Alex Marquez threw away his championship lead by being one of the many riders crashing and getting caught out in the tough conditions.

The crowd had come to cheer the other Frenchman Fabio Quatararo on the Yamaha and he gave them an early boost by taking a brilliant pole with a 1:29.324.

Unfortunately, both of the Marquez brothers picked him off instantly in the Sprint.

However, the Yamaha rider hit back and led the first five laps before Marc made a successful lunge at the Dunlop Chicane.

Alex did not have it quite as easy, but also made his way past to make it another family one-two.

A home podium went begging for Quartararo when he lost out in a tight battle with Aldeguer for third.

One rider that was not part of that fight was Bagnaia, who was out as early as Lap 2 when he crashed at the chicane.

Come Sunday, the Le Mans weather arrived to leave everyone unsure over how to tackle the race.

The Grand Prix finally started 13 minutes behind schedule after some bike changing chaos as riders struggled to decide between wets and slicks.

Many including all the contenders ended up finally settling on slicks and it proved to be the right call, but they faced a double long lap penalty.

After a dramatic build up, of course the opening lap was going to contain plenty of excitement.

Across the first three corners alone, Quartararo and Marc Marquez exchanged the lead three times with the Yamaha star winning the battle to the delight of the home crowd.

Meanwhile, there was pain for Bagnaia as both he and Joan Mir crashed at the Dunlop Chicane.

Incredibly Zarco was inches from disaster with an out of control Mir rubbing shoulders with the Frenchman and forcing him to the gravel.

Behind them the Gresini teammates ran side by side for multiple corners until Alex Marquez won the battle coming out of Le Musee.

Alex then dived down the inside of his brother as Quartararo was the first to serve the double long lap penalties on Lap 3.

This put Quartararo in the box seat to the delight of the home crowd, but their cheers were about to disappear in an instant.

Sadly the Yamaha star fell in front of the fans at Raccordement with Brad Binder doing the exact same thing right behind him.

After five laps the Acosta and Vinales had seen enough and returned to the pits for a third bike change, while the Marquez brothers did it a lap later and got back on wets as the conditions continued to worsen.

This left Aldeguer on his own, but he did not stay out for long and also pitted.

Having nailed the strategy and stayed on wets at the start, Miller was going to be well placed, only to crash on Lap 7 at the final corner.

All the drama left another French star leading the way and this time it was Zarco.

The LCR Honda enjoyed a massive 6s advantage over Oliveria as the riders crawled in the changing conditions.

By Lap 9 the Marquez brothers were on the charge as they knocked Oliveria off the podium.

With survival the main aim during the mid part of the race, Zarco was impressively building his lead over Marquez to over 10s.

As the race entered the three quarter mark, Oliveira’s hopes for a podium disappeared when he became the latest to crash at the final corner.

This ensured Acosta was on his own in fourth behind the brothers, who could not make any inroads on Zarco.

In fact it was championship leader Alex Marquez, who cracked under pressure.

The Gresini rider lost the rear at the first left hander of the chicane and suffered a heavy fall.

But with the field spread so significant, he only lost three spots from third to sixth.

However, a second high-speed fall ruled out the #73 for good.

Inside the final two laps the closest on track battle was for third after Aldeguer had caught the rear of Acosta.

In the end it was hardly a contest as the Gresini rider put the power down coming out of La Chapelle and blazed past for the podium.

Meanwhile, Zarco was in complete control, pushing his advantage well over 20s and made history in style.

After one of the most dramatic races ever, the season heads to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix on May 23-25.

Image: Gold and Goose

2025 French Motorcycle Grand Prix results

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