Johann Zarco rewrote history at the French Grand Prix as he claimed his second race win in the MotoGP class.

After 71 years, the French Grand Prix has been won by a French rider as Johann Zarco dominated his home race and won by 19.907 seconds.

It was a disastrous start for the Frenchman as he was pushed back in the order after getting involved in a first-lap collision. However, when riders began entering the pits and changing tyres he held strong and stuck to his wet tyres.

Zarco became Honda's first MotoGP race winner since the 2023 American Grand Prix, and put an end to Ducati's 22-race-long win streak in the class.

"It is just magic," Zarco said after the French Grand Prix to TNT Sports.

"From the start, we knew it was going to rain, but when other riders decided to start with the slick tyres, then changed in the box, and then switched and went back to the grid with the slicks. The beginning of the race was kind of slick; they were faster than the rain tyres, but there were also some drops.

"I know that for me, with slicks and raindrops, I do not feel good. I saw that Jack [Miller] was going quite fast with the rain tyres. But I did not want to burn the tyres out, and I said, 'Just be patient, because they are on the slicks, it should rain more, they will go to the pit box, then see what you can do'.

"When the rain came, they [the slick runners] had to change the bikes and lose positions. Overall, I was worried about Jack Miller because he is the best in those conditions. But when he crashed at the final corner, I really began to think I could win the race.

"I was a bit scared that Marc [Marquez] would come back because he can do incredible things and come back strong. He came back fast, but I think he was limited by the tyres and we could control the gap.

"It is just so cool to write history like this, motorbike history, I have been watching a lot of old races, with big names from the past. But to write this line today, I am kind of proud."