Moto2 world champion-elect Johann Zarco extended his series lead to 93 points at the Misano MotoGP round with another win while Britain’s Sam Lowes was forced to retire from the race with nine laps to go in Italy.
Zarco was left to his own devices early doors after championship second-place man Alex Rins crashed and nerfed off Dominique Aegerter in the process leaving reigning champion Tito Rabat scrapped it out with Takaaki Nakagami for the podium places - Rabat claiming second by 1.5s and re-taking the points table runner-up spot.
The Estrella Galicia Marc VDS man had opted for the hard rear tyre and had no feeling in the opening laps but as it came to him and the men with the soft rears started to slow, he was able to move pack through the pack.
Lowes had a problem in the opening laps when his carbon hugger disintegrated and he lost places but after re-grouping, the Speed Up man was able to put in fast enough laps that would have dragged him into the podium fight but the hugger had carved a big gash in his rear tyre and he pulled out.
Rins, meanwhile, was eventually black-flagged after interfering with the front-runners and will have his pants pulled down by race direction later on.
