'I let this extra power lift me up!' - how French MotoGP riders handle fanatical home support

MotoGP was generating attendance figures of 178,000 back in 2014, when Mike di Meglio was guiding a doomed CRT Ducati GP14. This surged to 195,000 in 2016 and in the wake of the Márquez-Rossi spat and with Zarco in Moto2 boom. Zarco’s MotoGP presence helped to break the 200,000 bracket in 2017, two years before Quartararo appeared on a satellite Yamaha, and flourished to 225,000 with Quartararo’s title defence in 2022 and national broadcaster Canal+ fully involved. By 2023 and post-pandemic, the accumulative effect was nudging the turnstile click near the 300,000 mark, a line that MotoGP crossed last Sunday for the 39th running of the GP at Le Mans.

The French crowd are renowned for their dedication (acquiring fenceside ‘real estate’ from a Jerez-equalling early hour on race day), their voluminous support of the native riders, noisy approval of intense action, and their multitude. Those without paddock access hover at the top entrance for a glimpse of stars and pack the overhanging fan zone terrace, some even dangling memorabilia like bait on a fishing rod for passing racers to sign.

Ask any rider or professional athlete about the prospect of entering an environment like this with the obligatory duty to over-perform and the usual quotes flow: the importance of the fans, the invigoration, the extra responsibilities. Sometimes, though, their public comments deviate slightly and reveal exactly what it’s like in this goldfish bowl where access and movement are complicated and time-consuming.

“It’s difficult to keep the concentration like a normal weekend,” reigning Moto2 world champion 22-year-old Moreira admitted in Brazil earlier this year.

“The time schedule is much more busy,” Quartararo told Motor Sport.

“Telling you ‘it’s a nightmare’ is the wrong answer because we are nothing without the fans and we have to realise they are so happy to see us, meet us to have a signature or a picture,” Zarco said in the pre-event press conference. “They know we cannot do all of them. It’s very demanding and we need organisation. It’s tiring also because we put the sport on the side. We sacrifice that side for five days… and try to get back the energy for the other grands prix.”

Le Mans is extra difficult for the French at a track where a single second can split the top 17 in qualifying. At one point during the Friday and Saturday sessions there was only a tenth of a second between the first three runners. “When you want to do too much, that’s when you make a mistake,” Quartararo forewarned on Thursday. “Seventeen years ago I tried to do something extra but it was too much and I did a mistake,” Zarco said of his 2009 Le Mans debut in the 125s (now Moto3) and subsequent DNF. “Now I let this ‘extra power’ [of the crowd] lift me up.”

Zarco is experienced with the billing and the annual swing of Le Mans, conducting pre-event activities in Paris and at the Moulin Rouge in previous years, but was splayed under the microscope for the 2026 edition thanks to the spectacle of 2025 (the first French premier class winner on French turf in the 76-year history of the championship), and a stark and promising forecast of rain that didn’t arrive until two hours after the race. “I had the memory all year,” he admitted. “Even fans, not French, outside of Europe and in different countries reminded me of the victory, and I understood that winning in your country makes a difference, which I did not know before and that’s very cool.”

Zarco cranked the simmering hysteria and sense of suffocation by topping the time sheets on Friday. A crash on Saturday morning and a lacklustre qualifying meant he was then reduced to a top 10 runner, in a season where Honda is still looking for the added edge of competitiveness to fight its European rivals. “Tough Saturday. Tough Sunday. Very disappointed [at] the lack of performance I got,” he said on Sunday afternoon and as the storm clouds finally clotted.

France is hanging onto the purple patch of 35-year-old Zarco, the oldest rider in the field, and Quartararo’s imminent change to HRC to escape the malaise in Yamaha colours. There is little else in the pipeline with a lack of French riders in Moto2 and Moto3. There are two in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (of which Zarco was the inaugural winner in 2007 and other title alumni include Jorge Martin and Pedro Acosta). It’s a seven-round ‘filter’ contest run concurrently with GPs in Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria and has KTM-kitted RC 250 R bikes.

One of the French aspirants is 17-year-old David Da Costa who was sampling home field fandom for only the second time. “It’s the only race where I can hear the fans. It’s special for that,” he told Motor Sport. “For the pressure it is not too good! My preparation is the same as for every race, always one hour before I get my focus and coordination and timing ready by juggling! In other championships I have a mental coach and we work with my breathing to keep calm. Here there are fans, family and more to consider. There is only one French round!”

Dealing effectively with the commotion will soon be a necessity for future GP racers. MotoGP is pushing towards more promotion and more non-circuit-based appearances. The two-day ‘Fan Fest’ before this weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix will occupy a prime location in the centre of Barcelona, with five Spanish riders committed. “I think it’s good for everyone,” opined Acosta, one of those lined up. “Like this, the fans have the opportunity to be much closer to us, and maybe we don’t have the stress compared to a GP. I know that Sundays — when fans try to stop you — you just pass the way because you have that many things in the head”

Fan Fests and their ilk are an effort to extend the home grand prix vibe and to influence newcomers. To hook fresh followers who might get wrapped up in the most relatable star. To those at the core of the whirlwind, though and the (frankly) unusual situation of being the centre of many people’s attention, it’s a surreal and draining temporary existence. “It’s unique to have all of this crowd screaming your name and cheering for the French riders,” Zarco reflected Sunday afternoon.

“Even more than in other countries for their national riders. It’s a very nice moment [but] it is demanding during the weekend because I am quite busy and I am trying to please many partners. I can see that in constant conditions you need to have a very good energy on the bike. When it’s raining then you are in economy mode and you can save energy but today in the long race I can see maybe with all that we have done I have missed a bit of extra power [for] the possibility to get the top 10.”

MotoGP would love to extend the French effect. MotoGP Group is targeting increased growth in two (commercially) important markets: the USA and the UK. Somewhat despondently, Great Britain last had a rider in the premier class back in 2020 and the USA has waited far longer: it’s now more than a decade since the late Nicky Hayden was a popular member of the grand prix grid.