What we Learned from French MotoGP

Honda snapped Ducati’s MotoGP win streak last Sunday at Le Mans, but it wasn’t exactly a conventional win as Johann Zarco won a chaotic flag-to-flag race in front of his home crowd, becoming the first French rider to win a 500cc/MotoGP race since 1954.

But despite a wild, unusual and surprising race in many ways, there were still things we learned from the French Grand Prix. Here are five.

Francesco Bagnaia needs to figure out his Saturday woes

While Bagnaia has been a step behind the two Marquez brothers in 2025, the two-time world champion remained very close to the leading duo in the championship standings heading into Le Mans.

However, that is no longer the case after another woeful Saturday where he crashed out of the sprint early on.

Sprint races have been Bagnaia’s nemesis for a long time since they became a regular part of the championship in 2022. The problem for Bagnaia is when he does not salvage things on a Sunday in the main race, and instead has another incident or no-score like he did at Le Mans, the points swing compared to his rivals will be huge.

And that’s exactly what happened. Qualifying has not really been the issue in 2025, it’s the sprint races where Bagnaia is clearly struggling. And if the Italian wants to get back in the title race, he must eliminate the mistakes in the shorter format.

Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha are here to stay, finally!

While Zarco may have taken the win that Quartararo would have dearly loved in front of a passionate home crowd, especially after qualifying on pole for the second consecutive race, the improvements by Yamaha, coupled with the 2021 world champion’s elite talent, have finally brought him back into the fold.

Quartararo showed that Jerez - a track often suited to the M1 - was not a flash in the pan, instead, it confirmed what we all hoped, which is that Ducati has a threat to Marc Marquez, and indeed Alex, but one that is not another Ducati.

You see, Quartararo has always been good, and that’s putting it lightly. But Yamaha, in the last couple of year, has done little to give him the tools he needed to fight with.

But the M1, which is continuously improving thanks to Yamaha’s extremely hard work and overhaul of new parts, looks like it can fight the Ducatis not just over one lap, but also during races, even when things like full fuel tanks or the same choice of tyres come into play.

Quartararo is also making the difference it must be said, as Alex Rins and Jack Miller are still some ways behind the Frenchman, but there’s reason for optimism if you are a Yamaha or Quartararo fan heading into the middle part of the campaign.

Fermin Aldeguer is a special talent

The Spanish sensation was reduced to watching Aprilia’s Ai Ogura produce headline performances during the first two rounds of the season, however, the Gresini rider now looks like the rider to beat when it comes to top rookie honours in 2025.

Aside from riding into Marc Marquez post-sprint-race in Le Mans, Aldeguer was flawless for much of the weekend. Thanks to his double P3 finish at Le Mans, Aldeguer has moved past Ogura in the championship, but aside from the results, his riding style has also been eye-catching.

The young Spaniard, who is just 20 years of age, has taken to MotoGP like a duck to water, and that’s been evident by his handling skills. Aldeguer has quite an upright style, which is quite unorthodox in the modern era compared to most of the grid, and he was seen sliding his Ducati into corners on several occasions, both of which seemed to pay off.

It’s certainly possible that going forward, Aldeguer will continue to put himself in the mix for podiums, and potentially even a win at some stage this season.

Ducati’s broken win streak won’t last long

Winners of the last 22 Grand Prix, dating back to last year’s Spanish MotoGP at Jerez, it took a wild flag-to-flag and an exceptional gamble from one rider to stop Ducati from making it yet another victory.

Behind the race winner were Marc Marquez and Aldeguer, so had Zarco failed to convert his tyre gamble, that streak would have continued, and while seeing another manufacturer win was great for a change, realistically, Ducati are unlikely to be beaten at Silverstone.

That’s not to say anything can’t happen as the British heavens may just open up during the race weekend and bless up with more chaos like Le Mans, but even then, should all riders be on the same tyre strategy then Ducati is again unlikely to be beaten given how many of its riders are performing at a high level as well as the bike being the best on the grid.

Yamaha has posed a threat to Ducati in qualifying over the last two rounds, with Quartararo securing pole at Jerez and Le Mans, but beating the Italian company over race distance still remains a feat no one has done in a dry or full wet race since Jerez 2024.

Marc Marquez cashes in on mistakes as he turns a corner

Is Marc Marquez the fastest rider in the world right now? Yes. Is he looking as good as ever? You could also argue, yes. But mistakes had allowed his rivals to close in, or in the case of Alex Marquez, take over the title lead at COTA and Jerez.

But when conditions were as testing as they’ve been all season at Le Mans, Marc Marquez held it together perfectly for a vital P2, while his two closest rivals made big mistakes.

Bagnaia crashed out at the start of the race before Alex Marquez joined him in failing to score a single point. Instead, Marc Marquez gained 20 points on both riders and has now moved 22 clear of his brother.

If consistency, and by that I mean Marc Marquez avoiding mistakes, particularly in Grand Prix races, becomes a regular theme, then it’s looking like 2025 will be his year, something we’ve not said since 2019, believe it or not.

After all, this is MotoGP, so the twists and turns will no doubt continue, but the older of the two Marquez brothers ought to build on his lead at Silverstone based on how good he’s been at different types of circuits aboard the factory Ducati.

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