MotoGP 2025 French Grand Prix: Race Report

Abhishek Ramesh
10 hours ago
6 min read

Written by Abhishek Ramesh

Johann Zarco celebrates his French MotoGP win on the podium at Le Mans. | Credit: HondaRacingGLB via X

Johann Zarco claimed a sensational victory in a chaotic French Grand Prix, taking his first-ever home win and just the second MotoGP triumph of his career. The LCR Honda rider prevailed in treacherous, changing wet conditions that saw multiple bike swaps and long lap penalties, holding off Ducati’s Marc Márquez and Fermín Aldeguer at Le Mans’ Bugatti Circuit.

Grand Prix Results

1 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda)

2 Marc Márquez (Ducati)

3 Fermín Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati)

4 Pedro Acosta (KTM)

5 Maverick Viñales (Tech3 KTM)

6 Taka Nakagami (Honda)

7 Raúl Fernández (Trackhouse Aprilia)

8 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati)

9 Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia)

10 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia)

11 Luca Marini (Honda)

12 Álex Rins (Yamaha)

13 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM)

14 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia)

15 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati)

16 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati)

DNF Álex Márquez (Gresini Ducati)

DNF Miguel Oliveira (Pramac Yamaha)

DNF Brad Binder (KTM)

DNF Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha)

DNF Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)

DNF Joan Mir (Honda)

The Calm Before the Storm

Conditions were tricky right from the beginning, so much so that Yamaha’s pole sitter and other home favourite Fabio Quartararo locked the front and almost crashed at the beginning of the warm-up lap. But the passionate Le Mans crowd, who broke the MotoGP weekend attendance record for a third year running, were in for a treat.

It was no surprise then that every rider came into the pits, opting against running on slicks and aborting the scheduled start in the process. The race was officially declared wet, with riders having the option to swap bikes to change tyres in the pits at any point during the race. Quick start procedure was to be followed and the race distance reduced by one lap to 26 due to the additional warm-up lap.

But the scenario became even more interesting when many riders, including Quartararo and the Márquez brothers, came into the pits after the second sighting lap to start the warm up lap on slicks again. This was seemingly due to the drying conditions during the halt. It also meant that those riders would have to serve double long-lap penalties in the race, according to FIM’s new and much clearer start procedure rules.

Finally Underway

There were more twists in store after the red lights went off, once and for all. The riders on slicks quickly realised their mistakes and headed back into pitlane for a switch to wets. But not before Fabio Quartararo, who was leading by over second, crashed at turn 14 along with Brad Binder on lap four.

On lap six, both Márquez brothers pitted for a change to wets. Once all the slick-starting riders came into the pits, it handed the initiative back to those who had stuck with wet tyres at the restart. This included Pecco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco.

However, Bagnaia’s miserable weekend had already continued into Sunday after he crashed on the opening lap at the Dunlop chicane and rejoined at the back. He cut a peripheral figure throughout the race and at one stage was a full lap down on the leaders. He had nothing to show for his perseverance, ending up 16th as the only finisher outside the points.

Zarco Goes From Gravel to Glory

Zarco too had narrowly avoided a crash at the start, going through the gravel runoff and

rejoining in P17 after lap 1. But the story wasn’t over yet. The cascade of long lap penalties and pitlane bike changes somehow led to Zarco taking the lead on lap eight. He extended his advantage to eight seconds two laps later.

Marc and Álex Márquez were way down the road in second and third and perhaps didn’t want to risk it all for the win given the championship at stake. This left the 34-year-old Zarco in a race of his own. All he had to do was not go tumbling down — but in conditions like Sunday’s, that was easier said than done.

The man from Cannes wasn’t to be denied though. A picture of concentration, he rode a perfect second half of the race and took the chequered flag. He became the first Frenchman to win his home race since Pierre Monneret did all the way back in 1954 and made his 150th start in the premier class truly unforgettable.

It was also Honda’s first win since 2023 at COTA in the U.S. and ended Ducati’s run of 22 consecutive Grand Prix wins in MotoGP. Ducati had already tied the all-time record held by Honda themselves but Zarco’s win means the record is still jointly theirs. And the accolades kept coming for Zarco, who was unsurprisingly and deservedly voted “Rider of the Race” by the fans.

The Battle for the Podium

Marc Márquez took the runner-up spot after having ridden a composed race himself. If not for the tyre change confusion, he could have taken P1. But what happened to his brother Álex on lap 21 would make him feel more glass half-full.

The younger Márquez was in P4 when he highsided and crashed at turn three. He rejoined in sixth but went down again on the same lap at turn 11. This time it led to the end of his race. His DNF gives Marc a 22-point cushion at the top in the riders’ standings.

There was better luck for Fermín Aldeguer who came through to overtake KTM’s Maverick Viñales and then Pedro Acosta for P3, earning his first Grand Prix podium in MotoGP.

Sprint Report

Marc Márquez celebrates his Sprint Race victory at Le Mans in France | Credit: ducaticorse via X

On Saturday, Marc Márquez won the sprint race from second on the grid after being beaten to pole position by a blistering lap from factory Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo. But just like the last round in Jerez, the Spaniard came back to make it six sprint gold medals in a row — the first time ever a rider has achieved the feat since MotoGP introduced the shorter race format in 2023.

Despite taking the holeshot into turn 1, the elder Márquez conceded P1 to Quartararo immediately after at the Dunlop chicane. The home hero led until lap six, when Marc Márquez attempted an overtake at turn three but couldn’t make it stick. Quartararo thwarted him by getting a great exit out of turn four. However, he was powerless to prevent Márquez diving down the inside at the turn eight Garage Vert on the same lap — ultimately proving to be the sprint-winning move.

Álex Márquez followed in his brother’s wake to go past Quartararo at the end of the home straight a bit later. But by that time, the factory Ducati rider had opened up a gap, leaving the Gresini rider to settle for the runner-up position — his sixth in a row in 2025.

There was more good news for Gresini as rookie Fermín Aldeguer took his first MotoGP podium in any format. The 20-year-old came on top after an exciting battle with Fabio Quartararo. The two made contact while battling for position, first by Fabio at the turn six La Chapelle before Aldeguer returned with interest at the very next corner, Le Musée. Quartararo managed to limit further damage and finished fourth.

On the other side of the Ducati Lenovo garage, there was only despair as Pecco Bagnaia crashed on the second lap at turn three, after having jumped into P4 from sixth on the grid. Interestingly, this was his first non-points scoring finish of the season. His fellow Italian friend Marco Bezzecchi didn’t fare much better on the Aprilia after he took to the gravel trap while in pursuit of Aldeguer.

This made it an all-KTM showdown for fifth and it was chaotic, to say the least. Pedro Acosta led Maverick Viñales who was chased by Brad Binder. The South African exited the battle first after a fourth lap fall at the turn nine-ten Chemin aux Bœufs chicane. Viñales going wide at the same spot five laps later should have sealed P5 for Acosta. But Acosta went down at Raccordement, the final corner, just before the chequered flag on lap 13, handing fifth back to Viñales.

Johann Zarco was yet again the leading Honda in sixth on LCR machinery. VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio finished seventh, after starting down in 17th. His teammate Franco Morbidelli went the other way after a terrible start from the back of the third row and ending up 15th.

Álex Rins and Joan Mir rounded out the points finishes in eighth and ninth for Yamaha and Honda factory outfits respectively. Trackhouse Racing rider Raúl Fernández in 10th meant that Aprilia was the only constructor taking no points on Saturday.

Next up is the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom at Silverstone on May 25th.