MotoGP French GP: Johann Zarco takes shock win ahead of Marc Marquez in thrilling race

Johann Zarco scored a sensational and emotional victory in a chaotic, mixed-weather edition of his home MotoGP French Grand Prix.

While the LCR Honda rider streaked to victory by almost 20 seconds on a bizarre day at Le Mans, factory Ducati star Marc Marquez consolidated his championship lead with a steady second place.

The six-time champion’s chief title rivals, Alex Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, both crashed out of the race, leaving Marc with a 22-point lead over his brother in second.

Zarco’s win also meant Ducati fell at the final hurdle in its bid to break the record of 22 consecutive MotoGP grand prix victories. 

There was irony in Honda halting that run, as it was the Japanese marque that would have lost the record it set in the 1990s. Ducati and Honda will now share the record into 2026 at the earliest. 

Behind Marc Marquez, Fermin Aldeguer took his first MotoGP grand prix podium, which followed the Gresini Ducati rider’s first top-three sprint result on Saturday.

The 34-year-old Zarco’s win looked highly unlikely at the start of the first lap, when he was caught up in a chain reaction at the Dunlop chicane. The man from Cannes was forced to run across the gravel and dropped as low as 17th as a result.

But Zarco started the race on exactly the right tyres. Most other riders did not play the changeable conditions in quite such straightforward fashion, resulting in two starts and a string of double long-lap penalties issued for ‘leaving the grid’.

Many, including Marc Marquez, also changed from dry to wet bikes early in the race. All of this added up to put Zarco in a healthy lead by lap eight. 

From there, the Honda rider used all of his experience to not only hold the lead over Marc Marquez but to stretch it to proportions unusual for any MotoGP race.

He looked after his tyres perfectly in the changing conditions as Marc settled for a healthy points haul on a day he described as “crazy”.

“I never have believed it would happen like this,” said Zarco. “It was magic.”

His fellow Frenchman Fabio Quartararo started the day as the far more likely winner, as the Yamaha rider had taken pole position.

But Quartararo made similar strategy mistakes to the other front-runners before crashing out on the fourth lap.

More to follow

MotoGP French Grand Prix results