Rain, tire poker, flag-to-flag changes, long-lap penalties – Johann Zarco wins a completely crazy French Grand Prix ahead of Marc Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer
A completely chaotic French Grand Prix in Le Mans! Johann Zarco (LCR-Honda) gambled right at the start with rain tires and took the lead while other riders made their flag-to-flag motorcycle changes. For the first time since 1954, a Frenchman has won his home race in the premier class.
Ducati’s winning streak has come to an end after 22 Grands Prix. For Honda and the LCR team, it was their first triumph since Austin in 2023. For Zarco, it was his second MotoGP victory after Phillip Island in 2023. Marc Marquez (Ducati) and Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini-Ducati) completed the podium (see results).
“Hard to believe – I still don’t quite understand what happened,“ said Zarco of his surprise victory. ‘The last few laps were pretty long, and yes, I think I still need a little more time, but it’s just magical.’
”We started on rain tires, so I had to control the race – I didn’t want to burn up the rear tire. Then more rain came, which was good. That’s why I was able to maintain the gap. Just wow!”
Shortly before the start, it began to rain. Everyone was on slicks on the grid and everyone turned into the pit lane at the end of the warm-up lap to change to rain tires. As there were more than ten riders, the start procedure was aborted.
Most of the riders went out on rain tires. But some returned to the pits after the warm-up lap and switched back to their other bikes with slicks. This meant that these riders had to serve two long-lap penalties.
As a result, some riders started on slicks and others on rain tires. At the start, there was an accident involving several riders in the middle of the field in the Dunlop chicane. Among them was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who was torpedoed by Enea Bastianini (KTM) and crashed.
A look back at the race start crash @johannzarco1 had to take avoiding action FrenchGP pic. twitter.com/XCcw5ELAWc
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) May 11, 2025
Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) took the lead ahead of Marc Marquez and the Gresini duo. Slicks were initially the right choice. Most of the riders who started on rain tires switched to the other bike with slicks at the end of the first lap.
But four riders stayed on rain tires, including Zarco. At the end of the fourth lap, Quartararo and Brad Binder (KTM) crashed on slicks in the final corner. Eventually, some riders switched back to their bikes with rain tires. The race was extremely chaotic.
At the end of the sixth lap, the Marquez brothers also came into the pits to switch back to their bikes with rain tires. Once everyone had completed their double long-lap penalties and everyone was back on rain tires, the field had sorted itself out.
Zarco suddenly leads the race
Zarco led after eight laps ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Pramac Yamaha), the Marquez brothers, and the KTM duo Maverick Vinales and Pedro Acosta. Zarco was about eight seconds ahead at this point.
In the ninth lap, the Marquez brothers overtook Oliveira’s Yamaha. However, the two Spaniards were unable to close the gap on Zarco. The Frenchman was able to extend his lead to just under ten seconds.
Turns out that @johannzarco1 IS LEADING FrenchGP pic. twitter.com/9xNtpsg3yA
— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) May 11, 2025
Zarco’s lead continued to grow. Marc Marquez did not start a chase. On lap 21, Alex Marquez crashed in the Dunlop chicane. He continued and initially re-established himself in sixth place.
A few laps later, Alex Marquez crashed again and was forced to retire. Marc Marquez managed to hold on to second place. Since Bagnaia was also behind after the accident at the start and did not score any World Championship points, everything went Marc Marquez’s way.
“Yes, it was a crazy race – the first part was particularly wild,” commented Marc Marquez. “I just focused on my main rival in the championship – my brother Alex. For me, that was the right strategy, but Johann was simply faster today.”
“Overall, I’m satisfied because you can lose a lot of points on Sundays like this – and I’ve already dropped points on two Sundays. That’s why I was particularly focused today.”
Marc Marquez’s championship lead grows
His championship lead over his brother Alex grew to 22 points. Bagnaia is now 51 championship points behind (in the championship standings) after this weekend. One of the men of the weekend was rookie Aldeguer, who finished third again after taking third place in the sprint.
“I don’t have much experience in wet conditions,” said Aldeguer. ‘But the more laps I did, the better I felt – and in the end I had incredible pace. I’m very happy with my first podium finish – another third place!’
Acosta and Vinales followed in fourth and fifth. Wildcard starter Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) finished sixth. Rounding out the top 10 were Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia), Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati), Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia), and Ai Ogura (Trackhouse-Aprilia).
Sixteen riders saw the checkered flag. Also finishing were Luca Marini (Honda), Alex Rins (Yamaha), Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), Franco Morbidelli (VR46-Ducati), and Bagnaia. From 13th place onwards, the riders were lapped.
The next Grand Prix will take place in two weeks on May 25 in Silverstone (Great Britain).