Johann Zarco took a sensational home victory in a dramatic and rain-hit 2025 French MotoGP at Le Mans, marking his first win since Phillip Island 2023 and delivering LCR Honda their first triumph since Alex Rins at COTA the same year.
Zarco’s emotional win also ends Ducati’s historic run of 22 consecutive Grand Prix victories, leaving them tied with Honda for the all-time record. Remarkably, Zarco becomes the first French rider to win his home race since 1954.
The race began with disruption as rain spots forced all riders to pit after the original warm-up lap, delaying the start. A dry spell then caused most of the grid to re-enter the pits on the sighting lap before the restart, swapping back to dry bikes — but earning a double long-lap penalty.
Riders penalised included Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez, Fabio Quartararo, Ai Ogura, Fermin Aldeguer, Fabio di Giannantonio, Pedro Acosta, Joan Mir, Brad Binder, Raul Fernandez, Enea Bastianini and Franco Morbidelli.
The early laps saw chaos unfold. At Turn 1, Bastianini collided with Bagnaia, taking both out. Joan Mir also crashed, forcing Zarco off through the gravel.
As rain intensified, pole-sitter Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder both crashed while following Marc Marquez. Marquez, on slick tyres, made the call to switch to his wet bike, but rejoined the race eight seconds behind Zarco — who had started on wets and stayed out.
Zarco gradually extended his lead and crossed the finish line with a commanding 17-second advantage to secure his long-awaited home victory.
Alex Marquez highsided from third late in the race, promoting Pedro Acosta to a podium position — but Gresini rookie Fermin Aldeguer overtook him on the penultimate lap to repeat his career-best third from the Sprint.
Tech3’s Maverick Vinales and Honda wild-card Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the top five. Alex Marquez later suffered a second fall, ending his run of 2025 points finishes.
Despite the difficult weather, Le Mans set a new official MotoGP weekend attendance record with 311,797 fans, surpassing last year’s 297,471. Sunday alone saw 120,403 spectators.
Yamaha continued testing the new engine and chassis parts from Jerez. Pedro Acosta rode after recent arm pump surgery, while Somkiat Chantra remains out recovering.
Pramac Ducati’s Miguel Oliveira returned from a shoulder injury, while reigning world champion Jorge Martin was again replaced by Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori.
The next round of the 2025 MotoGP World Championship takes place at Silverstone in two weeks.
