What the hell just happened in Le Mans! Firstly, the Michelin® Grand Prix of France set another milestone with a new all-time attendance record of 311 797 MotoGP™ fans making it through the doors of the Bugatti track this weekend. Then, the rain messed things up literally minutes before lights were out, as we saw many riders head back to the pit box to swipe bikes after the white flag was waved in the warm up lap. Red flag was then shown when the pit lane became too messy, with a quick start procedure planned. Then, the rain stopped, and started again, as we saw many flag-to-flags, crashes and more. The ice on the cake was when local hero Johann Zarco saw the checkered flag in 1st, becoming the first French rider to win on home soil in MotoGP™ since 1954. Through the chaos, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Maverick Viñales finished with a solid 5th place, while Enea Bastianini ended that crazy race in 13th, after crashing out twice and having to complete four long lap penalties.
Grand Prix de France
Soooo. Let’s just start there. Lining up again in 5th on the grid following his solid 5th place in the Tissot Sprint on Saturday, Maverick Viñales was ready to go at it again in front of a packed Bugatti track. He was one of the many riders making the decision to go back to pitlane to swap bikes after the white flag was shown during the warm up lap. That caused a bit of chaos into the pitlane, and the race direction immediately called it a red flag. A quick start procedure was then declared, with now race declared wet. Following the new rule updated after the events in Austin, Maverick – and all other riders – had to complete a double-long lap penalty after the race start. When lights went out for good, Viñales took a solid start, exiting lap 1 in 6th just behind Pedro Acosta in a similar scenario to Saturday’s sprint, and then he moved up to 4th on lap 3 after showcasing a solid early pace. As the rain increased more and more, Maverick decided to pit-in to swipe bikes for a wet setting after lap 6, and he found himself in 12th. Many riders also decided to swap bikes, and that meant Maverick quickly found himself back in 6th behind Acosta, both just under 3 seconds from Alex Marquez in 4th. Everything settled a bit more once everybody served their double long lap penalties and swapped bikes. Viñales was showing good confidence in the wet conditions, keeping it up in 6th while Pedro Acosta had gone away to 4th when overtaking Miguel Oliveira. Meanwhile, Firmin Aldeguer was 4 seconds behind. Soon, Maverick caught back on Oliveira after he completely closed the gap, and a smooth move in T3-T4 on the Portuguese saw ‘Top Gun’ move up to 5th. After 17 laps, Maverick was 6.6 seconds from Acosta, himself 6 seconds away from Alex Marquez, while home hero Johann Zarco continued to lead on home turf with a 13 second-gap on Marc Marquez. From behind, Aldeguer was progressively catching back on Maverick, and soon in lap 20 he moved past to 5th, leaving Viñales in P6 with just six laps to go. Alex Marquez’ crash seconds later meant he got his 5th place back, once that he kept until the checkered flag. Solid weekend for Maverick who took the 5th place in both Sprint and main event!
Le Mans was eventful too for Enea Bastianini, who also made the decision to swap bikes after the warm up lap, meaning that he also had to serve a double long lap penalty after the race start. Unfortunately, Bastianini crashed in T3 at the race start, and he took down Francesco Bagnaia, so he was in 20th after the first lap. He crashed once again in the final turn of lap 6, but got up, and then returned to the pit box to swap bikes to change to a wet setting as the rain hit harder. He rejoined the race in 16th behind Alex Rins, and progressively focused into his race pace after all the events. Of course, he had to complete a double-long lap penalty, but he was unfortunately given another one for exceeding the speed limit in the pitlane when swapping bikes. That had him way at the back, with race leader Johann Zarco overtaking him on lap 13. Bastianini settled into a really decent race pace in the second half and benefited from the few crashes ahead to see the checkered flag in 13th, and bring the team some points after what was a hell of a hectic French Grand Prix!
It was once again an amazing event in France, many memories made once again, as we now head to the United-Kingdom for the British Grand Prix in two weeks, on May 23-25.
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "It is fair to say that today was a fantastic show for the fans! I was feeling really good with the soft tyres on the dry, I was really pushing and fighting already for the top 3. Unfortunately, I got the two long lap penalties. When we changed bikes with the wet tyres, we had some issues, I felt a lot of spinning in the main straight, which is something that we need to look into. Anyway, we need these solid results to keep building, we have been really fast all weekend, and we learnt a lot in the wet. Experiencing the French Grand Prix with Tech3 was really special, and I think that we did a great job all together, so thank you to everyone!"
ENEA BASTIANINI: "Crazy race! Many things were going on today, with the weather constantly changing: one minute it was raining, and then it stopped. We started the warm up lap with slick tyres, then it rained, so we swapped bikes, and after it was just a disaster, and we changed again. The situation was difficult to manage for everyone, we crashed twice, unfortunately taking down Pecco (Francesco Bagnaia) at the race start, for which I will have to serve a penalty in the next round. But in the end, I still managed to bring a few points with P13. We tried to give our best today, our pace was strong once the chaos was over, although we could have had a better strategy from the start, but it is like this! Let’s focus on doing a good job all together in Silverstone."
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "Hectic race that we have just lived in Le Mans. When we checked the weather conditions this morning, we knew that it could be either wet or dry, so we were ready for all possible scenarios. After two bike changes and a double long lap penalty, Maverick Viñales managed to bring us home an astonishing 5th place after an incredible performance. He has been fast in both dry and wet this weekend, which really highlights the progress he’s made with the KTM, so huge congratulations to him for his performance. Enea Bastianini got blocked in the first tricky corners at the start, and crashed once, and then another time a few laps later. Once it started to rain hard, he swapped bikes and then the pace started to get better and better. He was too far anyway, but he still managed to take 3 points with 13th. Happy that we have survived through these tricky conditions with both riders in the points, let’s now focus on the next round in Silverstone!"
RACE RESULTS
1. Johann Zarco (FRA), LCR Honda, 45'47.541
2. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, +19.907
3. Fermin Aldeguer (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +26.532
5. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +38.136
13. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 1 Lap
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 171 pts
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 149 pts
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 120 pts
11. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 40 pts
15. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 31 pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - F. Quartararo (FRA) - 1'29.324 - 168.6 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - E. Bastianini (ITA) - 1'31.107 - 165.3 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - F. Quartararo (FRA) - 1'29.324 - 168.6 km/h
Top Speed: 2025 - F. Di Giannantonio (ITA) - 326.9 km/h
