The 2026 French Grand Prix gets under way at Le Mans this weekend with three contrasting riders shouldering the home expectation, the form, and the spotlight. At Thursday's pre-event press conference, Joan Zarco, Alex Marquez and Fabio Quartararo each addressed a packed Bugatti circuit media room with very different briefs.
Zarco, the LCR Honda rider who became the first French winner of the home Grand Prix in 71 years in 2025, made it clear he is not coming in as a favourite, even with rain forecast for Sunday and a track he has thrived on in mixed conditions.
"I don't think I'm coming here as a favourite," Zarco said. "I'm just coming here as something that we could not believe happened last year. So I think people want to believe it now. They believe even more that maybe something else can happen."
The Frenchman did concede that wet weather would tip the odds in his favour. "I have more chances if it's raining, because I have seen in Jerez that on the dry, even if I got a very good pace, I could not even hope for a podium. But when it's raining I can get more chances of podium. So I do not hope for this on Sunday. I really don't care. But I know that if it's coming, I try to use this chance."
Asked about the rain craft that has put him among the very best in damp conditions, Zarco offered a candid technical breakdown. "I got the feeling growing up in the rain. With the years also understanding better the bike, better how a tyre is working or not, this feeling has been improving year by year. On the rain maybe all the movement of the bike are softer, with less energy, so I have a better control than on the dry where you have to really push a lot."
Alex Marquez arrived in Le Mans riding the wave of his dominant Spanish Grand Prix victory at Jerez, but the BK8 Gresini rider preached patience. "I need to repeat what I said in Jerez, to repeat the weekend. Apart of jokes, that weekend was amazing for us. I was able to have again the speed but especially the feeling that I had in 2025."
Marquez was also frank about why the win finally clicked. He had been struggling, he said, on stopping the bike in the right place. "I was missing a little bit. With the [GP]24 I was missing or losing a little bit of time in that point, but this year, in that point, I was feeling even worse. The difference was bigger." Now, with the latest tweaks finally working, he said the feeling is "really on the similar point as the [GP]24 bike."
The home heartbreak in the room belonged to Fabio Quartararo. The Yamaha rider, returning to a circuit where he has scored a pole and a podium in the past, has had a difficult start to 2026 but said his motivation remains intact.
"Of course expectations are much lower than last year. But in Jerez test we found back more than potential. It's more of a feeling. On the front we were struggling from the beginning. So let's try to find this feeling on the front that can help us quite a lot in this kind of track that we know is super important."
Asked how he uses the home crowd, Quartararo struck a measured note. "When you want to do too much is where you do the mistakes. Usually I'm trying to give always my maximum. Of course sometimes you feel that you are in your home GP, you want to give an extra boost, but I don't think that's going to make myself a better result. We have only one home GP, so we try to give the maximum, to make them feel happy and proud of us."
Marquez nodded to both Frenchmen as the men to beat if the rain comes. "Joan, also Fabio, will be there. They are the home heroes, and I know what that boost gives you, the fans. So they will be really motivated. With Joan also really fast in wet, for sure he will be there all the weekend, but also Fabio."
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/zarco-marquez-quartararo-le-mans-motogp-press-conference-2026). Visit for full coverage.*