Jorge Lorenzo moved to the top of the championship standings with a dominant display at the French Grand Prix, taking a flag-to-flag victory as main rival Marc Marquez finished last, outside of the points.
Lorenzo made a good start to lead into Turn 1, whilst Marquez dropped to fifth, but the Honda rider was soon up to fourth as he dispatched Pol Espargaro. Meanwhile Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso found himself second.
As they crossed the finish line for the first time Lorenzo's lead stood at half a second with Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone behind. It was not the start Rossi had wanted, able to make up just a single place from seventh on the grid as the second lap began.
Iannone lost third when he became the first rider to fall. The Italian coming off his bike at Turn 8 before rejoining, but he later retired from the race. He was followed soon after by Cal Crutchlow – who suffered his fourth race crash of the year.
Just a lap later, Tito Rabat came off at Turn 6 to become the fourth rider to fall.
Rossi continued to fight his way through, dispatching Marquez to claim fourth. However Rossi would inherit second just a few laps later as both Dovizioso and Marquez crashed out on lap 16. There was no contact between them, the pair both losing the front in synchronisation.
The falls continued with Jack Miller and Bradley Smith the latest retirements, to leave just 13 runners as Lorenzo crossed the line to take his fifth victory at the Le Mans circuit, ten second ahead of team-mate Rossi.
It was a day of celebration for both Suzuki and Vinales, the Spaniard taking his first podium finish in the premier class.
Dani Pedrosa, Pol Espargardo, Aleix Espargaro, Danilo Petrucci, Hector Barbera, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl completed the top ten.
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