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Zarco penalised for British GP clash with Moto2 title rival Lowes

Moto2 championship leader Johann Zarco's title bid was hit by a penalty for taking home favourite Sam Lowes out of the Silverstone race

The pair, who are both heading to MotoGP next year with Tech3 and Aprilia respectively, came together while fighting for second in the British round.

Lowes had topped every session on home soil, including taking pole position on Saturday by 0.399 seconds.

Zarco got the lead off the line before Lowes moved into the front, but he was passed by Thomas Luthi and then Zarco on lap eight of 18, before regrouping.

He was challenging Zarco with six laps to go when the pair clashed at Brooklands, Zarco crossing the line sixth and Lowes in 22nd.

Stewards investigated the incident, deeming Zarco at fault for "irresponsible riding" and handing the French rider a 30s penalty, which dropped him to 22nd, elevating Lowes one place.

"If I can't have any points he doesn't deserve any. What did I do wrong?" Lowes said.

"I'm very disappointed. He didn't need to do that move.

"I tried to pick the bike up when I saw what he was doing but he was already down.

"The last two races I've been the strongest guy, and today I believe that 100% in my head that I could've won the race.

"That's very easy to say afterwards, but I'll come back stronger."

Zarco leads the championship by 10 points over Alex Rins, who finished seventh as he recovers from a collarbone injury sustained between rounds, while Lowes is 44 behind with six grands prix left.

"I said before this weekend that if I don't win here I can't be world champion, the fact that he didn't get any points is a bright light at the end but..." said Lowes.

"He's a strange person. You can't do that.

"I hope that Rins beats him to the championship. I'm too far behind."

LEADING SILVERSTONE RESULTS - 18 LAPS:

Pos Rider Team Bike Gap
1 Thomas Luthi Garage Plus Interwetten Kalex/Honda 38m49.473s
2 Franco Morbidelli Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex/Honda 0.856s
3 Takaaki Nakagami Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex/Honda 1.179s
4 Hafizh Syahrin Petronas Raceline Malaysia Kalex/Honda 1.359s
5 Jonas Folger Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex/Honda 1.970s
6 Lorenzo Baldassarri Forward Racing Team Kalex/Honda 5.292s
7 Alex Rins Paginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex/Honda 7.962s
8 Simone Corsi Speed Up Racing Speed Up/Honda 8.421s
9 Mattia Pasini Italtrans Racing Team Kalex/Honda 8.556s
10 Axel Pons AGR Team Kalex/Honda 13.740s

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Pos Rider Points
1 Johann Zarco 181
2 Alex Rins 171
3 Sam Lowes 137
4 Thomas Luthi 131
5 Jonas Folger 119
6 Franco Morbidelli 114
7 Takaaki Nakagami 108
8 Hafizh Syahrin 92
9 Dominique Aegerter 71
10 Simone Corsi 67

BINDER STRETCHES FURTHER AHEAD IN MOTO3

Brad Binder moved 86 points clear at the top of the Moto3 standings with his fourth victory of 2016 at Silverstone.

Binder secured his first win since the Mugello round in June with a double-pass on Mahindra's Francesco Bagnaia and factory KTM team-mate Bo Bendsneyder - who finished second and third - down Hangar Straight on the final lap.

LEADING SILVERSTONE FINISHERS - 17 LAPS:

Pos Rider Team Bike Gap
1 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 38m39.142s
2 Francesco Bagnaia Pull & Bear ASPAR Mahindra Team Mahindra 0.183s
3 Bo Bendsneyder Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 0.336s
4 Stefano Manzi Mahindra Racing Mahindra 0.787s
5 Nicolo Bulega SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM 0.802s
6 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing Moto3 Honda 0.883s
7 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing Moto3 Honda 1.016s
8 Aron Canet Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda 1.409s
9 Joan Mir Leopard Racing KTM 1.193s
10 Jorge Martin Pull & Bear ASPAR Mahindra Team Mahindra 1.624s

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Pos Rider Points
1 Brad Binder 204
2 Jorge Navarro 118
3 Francesco Bagnaia 110
4 Enea Bastianini 103
5 Nicolo Bulega 100
6 Romano Fenati 93
7 Fabio Di Giannantonio 92
8 Joan Mir 90
9 Niccolo Antonelli 74
10 Jakub Kornfeil 69

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