LE MANS (Reuters) - Johann Zarco became 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 on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd of more than 120,000 fans at Le Mans.
In a chaotic race where riders swapped bikes multiple times due to rain, 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 off the barrier in front of the grandstand as the fans chanted his name.
The local fans had come hoping to see another Frenchman, polesitter and 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo, potentially win from pole position but it was the veteran Honda rider who gave them a reason to celebrate.
His victory also ended Ducati’s winning streak in MotoGP at 22 races as Honda took a rare win.
“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.”