La Marseillaise Echoes Throughout Le Mans

Home hero, Johann Zarco, breaks Ducati's winning streak in an unbelievably chaotic 2025 MotoGP French Grand Prix

- Report: Gaurav Davare

YOU'D THINK 2021 champion Fabio Quartararo's (Monster Energy Yamaha) monster pole lap at Jerez was a one-off miracle. Well, you thought wrong as he managed to pull out another rabbit out of the hat right at the end and score a record-breaking pole position at the 2025 MotoGP French Grand Prix. This one is even more special as he has done it in front of the chorus of the home crowd. Behind him were the two Márquez brothers: six-time premier class champion Marc Márquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) in second and Alex Márquez (Gresini Racing) in third position.

Sprint

LIKE LAST TIME, THE START OF THE sprint was positive for Quartartaro as he held on to the lead. In fact, now he looked to have some pace to fend off Marc Márquez. That, unfortunately, only lasted six laps as the factory Ducati rider managed to win in the end, although not without a nice battle.

The battles weren't over for Quartararo just yet because Alex Márquez overtook him for second and Alex’s teammate, Fermin Aldeguer, also got past Quartararo to score a maiden sprint podium in third position.

Race

ONE COULD WRITE A BOOK ON what transpired at the 2025 French Grand Prix, especially with the weather gods cooking up a storm at the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix circuit. It all kicked off on the warm-up lap where a light drizzle had most riders go into the pit-lane to switch to the wet bike. With too many riders in the pit-lane, the red flag was thrown and a restart procedure was initiated with the race being declared a wet one.

That didn’t stop the drama as, on the sighting lap, a lot of riders went into the pit-lane to switch back to their dry bike. Since this wasn’t in line with the starting procedure, they received double-long lap penalties.