Zarco is first home rider in 71 years to win French GP

The Advertiser

11-05-2025

Johann Zarco has become the first Frenchman in 71 years to win the French Grand Prix after the LCR Honda rider's decision to start with wet tyres paid off handsomely in front of a sellout crowd of more than 120,000 fans at Le Mans.
In a chaotic rain-hit race as riders swapped bikes multiple times on Sunday, Zarco won by a huge margin of nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ducati's Marc Marquez while Gresini Racing's Fermin Aldeguer came third for his first MotoGP podium.
Zarco was 17th on lap one when he narrowly avoided a collision and lost places as he went off track. But as confusion and chaos reigned in the rain, the Frenchman slowly made his way through the grid before taking the lead and never looking back.
Zarco is the first Frenchman to win at the iconic circuit since Pierre Monneret in 1954 and the 34-year-old celebrated by performing a back-flip in front of the grandstand as the ecstatic home fans chanted his name.
His victory also ended Ducati's winning streak in MotoGP at 22 races as Honda took a rare win.
Australia's Jack Miller, who had also started on wet tyres, was one of six riders who failed to complete the race in the treacherous conditions on his Pramac Yamaha.
"Hard to believe, I still don't understand what is happening," Zarco said.
"The last laps, they were quite long. I think I need a bit of time but it's just magic because with the rain tyres at the beginning, we had to control."
The race was initially red-flagged when every rider entered the pits after the warm-up lap to swap bikes, with all of them on dry tyres moving cautiously around the wet track.
But after swapping bikes several riders came back in on the sighting lap to switch machines again as the rain abated, risking the double long-lap penalty rather than race on wet tyres on a drying track.
French hope Fabio Quartararo crashed at the final corner on lap four as groans echoed around the grandstand, leaving the Marquez brothers to battle it out for the lead.
But both Marc and Alex went into the pits yet again to swap bikes for wet tyres -- leaving Zarco, who started on wet tyres, with a commanding lead.
"Crazy race, especially the first part," said Marc, who now holds a 22-point lead over Alex in the championship.
With eight laps left, Zarco's team urged him to calm down and be cautious with his pace. In the stands, fans were all smiles despite the rain while the anxious ones were seen praying for him to take the chequered flag.
As the rain got heavier, Alex crashed out of third place when he lost control on turn three, allowing KTM's Pedro Acosta to move up into the podium places before Aldeguer took third towards the end.
Johann Zarco has become the first Frenchman in 71 years to win the French Grand Prix after the LCR Honda rider's decision to start with wet tyres paid off handsomely in front of a sellout crowd of more than 120,000 fans at Le Mans.
In a chaotic rain-hit race as riders swapped bikes multiple times on Sunday, Zarco won by a huge margin of nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ducati's Marc Marquez while Gresini Racing's Fermin Aldeguer came third for his first MotoGP podium.
Zarco was 17th on lap one when he narrowly avoided a collision and lost places as he went off track. But as confusion and chaos reigned in the rain, the Frenchman slowly made his way through the grid before taking the lead and never looking back.
Zarco is the first Frenchman to win at the iconic circuit since Pierre Monneret in 1954 and the 34-year-old celebrated by performing a back-flip in front of the grandstand as the ecstatic home fans chanted his name.
His victory also ended Ducati's winning streak in MotoGP at 22 races as Honda took a rare win.
Australia's Jack Miller, who had also started on wet tyres, was one of six riders who failed to complete the race in the treacherous conditions on his Pramac Yamaha.
"Hard to believe, I still don't understand what is happening," Zarco said.
"The last laps, they were quite long. I think I need a bit of time but it's just magic because with the rain tyres at the beginning, we had to control."
The race was initially red-flagged when every rider entered the pits after the warm-up lap to swap bikes, with all of them on dry tyres moving cautiously around the wet track.
But after swapping bikes several riders came back in on the sighting lap to switch machines again as the rain abated, risking the double long-lap penalty rather than race on wet tyres on a drying track.
French hope Fabio Quartararo crashed at the final corner on lap four as groans echoed around the grandstand, leaving the Marquez brothers to battle it out for the lead.
But both Marc and Alex went into the pits yet again to swap bikes for wet tyres -- leaving Zarco, who started on wet tyres, with a commanding lead.
"Crazy race, especially the first part," said Marc, who now holds a 22-point lead over Alex in the championship.
With eight laps left, Zarco's team urged him to calm down and be cautious with his pace. In the stands, fans were all smiles despite the rain while the anxious ones were seen praying for him to take the chequered flag.
As the rain got heavier, Alex crashed out of third place when he lost control on turn three, allowing KTM's Pedro Acosta to move up into the podium places before Aldeguer took third towards the end.
Johann Zarco has become the first Frenchman in 71 years to win the French Grand Prix after the LCR Honda rider's decision to start with wet tyres paid off handsomely in front of a sellout crowd of more than 120,000 fans at Le Mans.
In a chaotic rain-hit race as riders swapped bikes multiple times on Sunday, Zarco won by a huge margin of nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ducati's Marc Marquez while Gresini Racing's Fermin Aldeguer came third for his first MotoGP podium.
Zarco was 17th on lap one when he narrowly avoided a collision and lost places as he went off track. But as confusion and chaos reigned in the rain, the Frenchman slowly made his way through the grid before taking the lead and never looking back.
Zarco is the first Frenchman to win at the iconic circuit since Pierre Monneret in 1954 and the 34-year-old celebrated by performing a back-flip in front of the grandstand as the ecstatic home fans chanted his name.
His victory also ended Ducati's winning streak in MotoGP at 22 races as Honda took a rare win.
Australia's Jack Miller, who had also started on wet tyres, was one of six riders who failed to complete the race in the treacherous conditions on his Pramac Yamaha.
"Hard to believe, I still don't understand what is happening," Zarco said.
"The last laps, they were quite long. I think I need a bit of time but it's just magic because with the rain tyres at the beginning, we had to control."
The race was initially red-flagged when every rider entered the pits after the warm-up lap to swap bikes, with all of them on dry tyres moving cautiously around the wet track.
But after swapping bikes several riders came back in on the sighting lap to switch machines again as the rain abated, risking the double long-lap penalty rather than race on wet tyres on a drying track.
French hope Fabio Quartararo crashed at the final corner on lap four as groans echoed around the grandstand, leaving the Marquez brothers to battle it out for the lead.
But both Marc and Alex went into the pits yet again to swap bikes for wet tyres -- leaving Zarco, who started on wet tyres, with a commanding lead.
"Crazy race, especially the first part," said Marc, who now holds a 22-point lead over Alex in the championship.
With eight laps left, Zarco's team urged him to calm down and be cautious with his pace. In the stands, fans were all smiles despite the rain while the anxious ones were seen praying for him to take the chequered flag.
As the rain got heavier, Alex crashed out of third place when he lost control on turn three, allowing KTM's Pedro Acosta to move up into the podium places before Aldeguer took third towards the end.
Johann Zarco has become the first Frenchman in 71 years to win the French Grand Prix after the LCR Honda rider's decision to start with wet tyres paid off handsomely in front of a sellout crowd of more than 120,000 fans at Le Mans.
In a chaotic rain-hit race as riders swapped bikes multiple times on Sunday, Zarco won by a huge margin of nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ducati's Marc Marquez while Gresini Racing's Fermin Aldeguer came third for his first MotoGP podium.
Zarco was 17th on lap one when he narrowly avoided a collision and lost places as he went off track. But as confusion and chaos reigned in the rain, the Frenchman slowly made his way through the grid before taking the lead and never looking back.
Zarco is the first Frenchman to win at the iconic circuit since Pierre Monneret in 1954 and the 34-year-old celebrated by performing a back-flip in front of the grandstand as the ecstatic home fans chanted his name.
His victory also ended Ducati's winning streak in MotoGP at 22 races as Honda took a rare win.
Australia's Jack Miller, who had also started on wet tyres, was one of six riders who failed to complete the race in the treacherous conditions on his Pramac Yamaha.
"Hard to believe, I still don't understand what is happening," Zarco said.
"The last laps, they were quite long. I think I need a bit of time but it's just magic because with the rain tyres at the beginning, we had to control."
The race was initially red-flagged when every rider entered the pits after the warm-up lap to swap bikes, with all of them on dry tyres moving cautiously around the wet track.
But after swapping bikes several riders came back in on the sighting lap to switch machines again as the rain abated, risking the double long-lap penalty rather than race on wet tyres on a drying track.
French hope Fabio Quartararo crashed at the final corner on lap four as groans echoed around the grandstand, leaving the Marquez brothers to battle it out for the lead.
But both Marc and Alex went into the pits yet again to swap bikes for wet tyres -- leaving Zarco, who started on wet tyres, with a commanding lead.
"Crazy race, especially the first part," said Marc, who now holds a 22-point lead over Alex in the championship.
With eight laps left, Zarco's team urged him to calm down and be cautious with his pace. In the stands, fans were all smiles despite the rain while the anxious ones were seen praying for him to take the chequered flag.
As the rain got heavier, Alex crashed out of third place when he lost control on turn three, allowing KTM's Pedro Acosta to move up into the podium places before Aldeguer took third towards the end.