Jorge Lorenzo took the lead in the MotoGP World Championship standings with his second win of the year in a dramatic French GP at Le Mans, while an 11th-placed finish consolidated Antrim rider Eugene Laverty's place in the top ten overall.
Movistar Yamaha rider and defending champion Lorenzo led from start to finish as previous points leader Marc Marquez crashed his Repsol Honda along with Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso on the same corner on one dramatic lap.
Marquez was following Dovizioso, whose team-mate Andrea Iannone had earlier crashed while lying second, when they both went down in different parts of the corner in an incident which freed Lorenzo's team-mate Valentino Rossi to claim a comfortable second and Suzuki's Maverick Vinales to finish third.
Marquez was able to rejoin the race and finished 13th to limit his losses to Lorenzo, who now leads the table on 90 points, five ahead of his fellow Spaniard, with Rossi in third.
Laverty is ninth overall on 33 points. It'#s been a nexcellent season for the Irishman, the highlight of which so far being his fourth-placed finish in the Argentina GP in the MotoGP World Championship.
Moto GP standings - 1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 90 2. Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda 85 3. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 78 4. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 53 5. Maverick Vinales (Spain) Suzuki 49 6. Pol Espargaro (Spain) Yamaha 47 7. Aleix Espargaro (Spain) Suzuki 42 8. Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati 39 9 Eugene Laverty (Ireland) Ducati 33 10. Andrea Iannone (Italy) Ducati 25 11. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 23 12. Stefan Bradl (Germany) Aprilia 23 13. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Aprilia 21 14. Bradley Smith (Britain) Yamaha 20 15. Scott Redding (Britain) Ducati 16
