13:04
A replay showed Quartararo locked the front going into Turn 3. That was so close to disaster.
Johann Zarco, LCR Honda, 2025 French MotoGP
© Gold and Goose
2025 French MotoGP as it happened
Lap-by-lap updates from the 2025 MotoGP French Grand Prix.
Johann Zarco sensationally won the French MotoGP, his home race.
11 May 2025
13:02
Start aborted
Red flag is out, start aborted.
13:02
White flag has been given, which means bke swaps are allowed.
Everyone is in.
13:01
Marc Marquez is not wanting to lead the field. He's waiting to see what others do.
13:01
Everyone is going so slowly, so there's no way they can start on slicks.
13:00
MotoGP French GP - Warm-up lap
The warm-up lap is underway.
First test of the conditions for the field. I still think we'll see everyone come in.
Quartararo has almost crashed at Turn 3.
13:00
Everyone is still on the grid, so no Austin runaways this time!
12:58
Three minute signal given, which means riders cannot leave the grid now without getting a penalty.
12:57
MotoGP French GP - Tyre choice
Everyone is currently on soft/soft slicks, except Brad Binder on a medium front.
12:55
If the rain gets heavier, I think we'll see a repeat of Austin in that the start will be delayed as more than 10 riders will head to pitlane at the end of the warm-up lap.
12:53
Rain getting just a little heavier now.
12:51
Lots of pressure on Marc Marquez coming up. He's got the best dry pace and has a championship lead to protect.
He's a demon in these conditions, but maybe he has to take it more cautiously and let others discover the conditions ahead of him.
12:50
Someone at the back of the grid may well take a gamble and fit full wets in anticipation of the rain coming down heavier soo as is forecast.
12:48
Formula 1 driver Isack Hadjar has given his advice to the MotoGP field: "Whatever Marc does, just do the same".
12:47
The last time we had a full wet grand prix at Le Mans, Ducati's Danilo Petrucci won.
The last flag-to-flag contest at Le Mans was in 2021, which Jack Miller won for Ducati, while Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco were on the podium.
12:46
Lots of discussions taking place between riders and team members as they try to figure out the strategy here.
Jack Miller has just said it's not wet enough yet to run a wet tyre.
12:44
Just 15 minutes to go until we get going.
12:43
New MotoGP crowd record
A record crowd has packed into the Le Mans circuit this weekend, with 311,797 combined across all days.
For Sunday, 120,403 people are in attendance.
12:41
MotoGP French GP - Tyre choice
Everyone is currently listed as on soft/soft slicks.
But let's see how the weather develops.
12:40
New start procedure rules
Following the chaos we saw at COTA before the start in iffy conditions, the regulations have been updated.
They are as follows:
"To simplify the procedure and previous protocols, there will now be a penalty for riders leaving or not joining the grid, removing the differentiation between a rider leaving the grid for a technical reason or leaving the grid to make a weather-related tyre change.
"Effective immediately, in all classes, if a rider leaves the grid for any reason, they must start the warm-up lap from pitlane, take their original grid position, and serve a standard double long lap penalty. This also applies to riders who don’t go to the grid.
"As per current rules, if a rider misses the warm-up lap, they must start the race from pitlane. In all these cases a change of bike is permitted in the MotoGP class, where riders have two machines.
"The existing time delay penalty for starting the race from pitlane remains unchanged. In addition, the current limit of a maximum of 10 riders to take the race start from pitlane also remains.
"For clarification, this does not apply to the warm-up lap. It is not possible to determine if a rider leaves the grid for a genuine technical problem or for a bike/tyre setting change and therefore, the penalty must be the same in both cases. The new regulations simplify the rules for all parties."
12:36
French GP - Pitlane opens
Pitlane has opened for the sighting lap. Some are going out on slicks, others on wets to scrub those in.
Expect everyone to take two laps here to practice flag-to-flag swaps and run through both of their bikes.
12:34
We haven't had a wet race since Thailand last year, a grand prix won by Pecco Bagnaia.
He crashed yesterday in the sprint, so wet weather may be his best chance of a win today.
He will go from sixth on the grid.
12:33
MotoGP French GP - Grid
Row 1 - Quartararo, M.Marquez, A.Marquez
Row 2 - Aldeguer, Vinales, Bagnaia
Row 3 - Bezzecchi, Miller, Morbidelli
Row 4 - Fernandez, Zarco, Acosta
Row 5 - Binder, Rins, Mir
Row 6 - Marini, Di Giannantonio, Bastianini
Row 7 - Ogura, Oliveira, Savadori
Row 8 - Nakagami
12:30
French GP build-up
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the 2025 MotoGP French Grand Prix.
We are half an hour away from lights out and it has just started raining at Le Mans!
