Britain's Scott Redding saw his Moto2 title lead cut back a litle more by rival Pol Espargaro at the Sachsenring MotoGP round as tyre troubles left him unable to challenge for a podium spot.
The MarcVDS rider struggled with grip on the left-hand side of the right from the early laps and then it began to tear up as he tried to halt his slide back down the order. He eventually finished in seventh place as Espargaro claimed second and reduced the gap to 23 points.
"What can I say; from the lap two or three I was struggling with rear grip from the left hand side of the tyre. In the right-handers and through the first sector I was catching hand over fist, but when it came to the left-hand corners I had virtually no edge grip on entry or exit," said Redding.
"From halfway onwards the tyre started to tear, which reduced grip even further and also caused pretty bad chatter. I was disappointed not to finish in front of Lüthi and De Angelis, because with Pol only third here today, a fifth place finish would have seen me go into the summer break with more than a 25 point lead in the championship standings. I need to come back strong in Indianapolis, to start the second half of the season in the same way I started the first half."