Normally, I'd be content to just report the facts, but this was impossible. A breathtaking scenario on Sunday for a French victory at Le Mans, in France! Like so many motorcycle enthusiasts, I screamed in front of my TV set and cried too... The 2025 French Grand Prix at Le Mans was a landmark in the history of French motorcycle racing, because it was won by Johann Zarco (35).
From the shadows to the light, hidden away, eclipsed since Friday by the performance of Fabio Quartararo, it took a helping hand from the weather for Johann Zarco to dazzle the world, the public and the paddock with his talent, capturing moments suspended in time forever for French motorcyclists. Since 1954 and a certain Pierre Monneret, French motorcycling has been waiting 71 years for a French rider to win the premier class, and on May 11, 2025, it's done!
In the lead since lap 8
After chaos and two bike changes for some, the rain wreaked havoc on the warm-up lap, which almost everyone started on slick tires. The white flag waved at the end of the formation lap allowed the drivers to return to the pits to change bikes and get rain tires. With too many drivers in the pits, a red flag was waved to initiate a second start procedure. As a reminder, for this second start, drivers who had changed bikes would have to take a double long-lap penalty.
By the time they set off for this second start, the rain had stopped, and the riders set off for another warm-up lap. Except that, at the end of this set-up lap, some of the riders returned to the pits to get back on their slick bikes! The start saw some of the big names, such as the Marquez brothers and Fabio Quartarao, start on slick tires, while Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco remained on rain tires. What a crazy scenario even before the start.
Fabui Quartararo on his Yamaha, more at ease than Marc Marquez in these mixed conditions, got off to a perfect start. Meanwhile, Francesco Bagnaia, jostled at the start, fell at the first start, Mir on his Honda made a gap and pushed Johann Zarco into the Dunlop gravel trap. For the first 6 laps, the weather would dictate the pace of the race, with a few changes of position and a penalty lap for each rider. Marc Marquez, in all his cool, was cautious. With his experience, the Spaniard knows that in these conditions, you have to stay on your wheels.
An advice that Fabio on his Yamaha forgot. At the end of the 4th lap, as the rain returned, the French rider lost the front of his bike before the pit straight, and his hopes were dashed.
Zarco, who had started on rain tires and had never changed bikes, waited for the rain to return / strengthen. The strategy of patience paid off, as the top 10 riders at the front of the race returned to the pits to (again!!) change bikes and put on rain tires. Lap 7 began and Johann Zarco on his LCR Honda finally took the lead of the French Grand Prix, never to relinquish it again
Pierre Monneret was the last French winner in the premier class
The rest is history. No one would see Johann again, not even Marc Marquez, who came second in the end. Alex Marquez was less astute than his brother, crashing twice and eventually retiring. In the end, it was the youngsters who rounded off the top 5 behind the old hands, Zarco and Marquez. For a long time, Pedro Acosta thought he was on the podium, but Fermin Aldeguer set a better pace towards the end and finally took 3rd place. The KTM official finished 4th ahead of Vinales on the KTM Tech3, who thus gave the French Tech3 team a fine top5 finish at Le Mans.
But the tension, the exhilaration of the moment added to the emotion, the feeling that we were experiencing something out of time, didn't allow us to concentrate on the peloton. What interested us was Johann. Like the crowd, we were cheering every time he crossed the line, lap after lap. Especially as our Jojo widened his lead over Marc Marquez, up to 20 seconds!
No one was ever going to catch him again - he was his only enemy. Forward but sure. He's known as the best rider in the paddock in these conditions, and he proved it by riding 1 second faster per lap than everyone else. 150 grand prix for Zarco, that forges talent. We held our breath, and he held it. In front of a crowd of over 100,000 on Sunday (almost 312,000 over the weekend), Johann on his Honda put an end to Ducati's 22-race winning streak by claiming his second MotoGP Grand Prix victory, arguably the best of his career (along with Moto2).
Le Mans was abuzz with excitement, and the crowd even sang the Marseillaise before the podium. Some stopped talking, others cried and others sang. Johann's joy was full but still shy, and it seemed as if he was knocked out on his feet, knocked out by what he'd just done. We saw Jojo start to sing his Marseillaise, then caught up in the emotion, throat tight, eyes shining, he caught his breath, looked at his clan, as if realizing for a moment what he had just done, before the chorus of our national anthem gave him back the weightlessness of a singer, he then took up the verse with the crowd to end this moment engraved in history, his history. What a beautiful Sunday
Zarco on Canal+:
Waving to the crowd on the last lap, I feel like it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it's today...
It's incredible, ..., it's hard to realize, the moment with the public is a discharge of emotions, ... We knew the rain was coming, so we had to be patient at the start, not to burn the tire ... It's a weird feeling... I want to win and when it's done, you don't realize ... We sang the Marseillaise for a good reason, it's incredible what this world is like, what a vibration and what a special sound! We've sung it lots of times this week, but it was THE right time.
On the last lap, I saw that I had a 20-second lead, so I thought I'd go for it and enjoy it. I couldn't help but start waving to the crowd when I saw the flags waving, it was good!
I love motorcycle history, and to be able to write this line 71 years later is special and good ... Replied an emotional Zarco to Canal+, his throat tight and his eyes shining...
Like us Jojo, it was magnificent and thank you.
Marc Marquez:
Before the start the weather was very bad, it was a crazy race. Johann had a different strategy and he was the fastest. I think that even if the race had been wet from start to finish, Johann would still have won.
Lucio Cecchinello Honda LCR team manager:
It's the result of an extraordinary rider and a lot of hard work by the team. It's magnificent. We didn't really make a gamble, we analyzed the weather scenarios a lot and we knew we had to stay with the rain tires. It's Johann's talent, experience and concentration that lead to victory. It was very complicated and we were a bit scared at the end of the race with the rain getting heavier. We were afraid of aquaplaning, but it was tense...
Fabio Quartararo
The start of the race was important, we had to start strongly, but at one point it was raining a bit and I pushed a bit too hard on the front tire... Still, it was a good weekend... I'm happy for Johann Zarco, these are great emotions for him and his family..
Friday, Saturday: Fabio Quartarao on pole
As I said in my introduction, if Johann shone on Sunday, we must also give Fabio Quartararo credit for the emotions he also gave us. The Yamaha rider was very much at ease at the start of the weekend, with a very high-level qualifying session that saw him break the absolute track record.
While Marc Marquez slammed a clock that was thought to be unbeatable, Fabio responded on his last flying lap with a stratospheric time of 1min29s324! The two Marquez brothers completed the front row.
Saturday's Sprint race left little room for doubt. Marc Marquez, capable of impressive consistency and undoubtedly more at ease stringing together fastest laps, quickly calmed Fabio Quartararo down to take the lead, which he would not relinquish for yet another record: the 6th Sprint race won in a row. His brother Alex and Fermin Aldeguer completed the podium. Fabio takes 4th place for the chocolate medal. Pedro Acosta made another silly mistake, falling off in the penultimate corner to let Vinales complete the Top 5 on his French Tech3 KTM.
The big winner of this Grand Prix in the world championship was Marc Marquez, who saw his brother Alex and Francesco Bagnaia fall. He leaves with a total of 171 points in the world championship, 22 ahead of his brother and 51 ahead of his team-mate. Bagnaia is a shadow of his former self, back to normal, and it's doubtful whether the official team will keep him for much longer, given the talent of satellite riders Alex Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer (surely Ducati's future).
Next meeting, May 23 at Silverstone in England.
Vincent Beaucousin - Image credits: Officiel Zarco / Yamaha Racing / Ducati Corse
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