IntactGP’s Manuel Gonzalez extended his championship advantage by taking the Moto2 race victory at Le Mans.
The Championship leader remained calm despite being pressurised by Barry Baltus as he claimed his third win of the season.
Gonzalez held the lead from pole down into Turn 1, but Diogo Moreira had the speed through the chicane to take the lead from the Spanish rider.
Jake Dixon managed to progress from ninth on the grid into third on the opening lap as he attempted to pressure rival Gonzalez.
It was Barry Baltus who had the fastest pace in the early stages however, and he was able to overtake the British rider into the podium positions.
After Baltus, Gonzalez decided it was time to move to the front as he passed Moreira at Garage Vert for the lead.
Baltus clearly had the pace to take Moreira for second, but waited a few laps to overtake the Brazilian rider.
Gonzalez and Baltus had the pace to separate themselves from the rest of the field, but the Spanish rider was unable to break away from the Belgian as many expected him to do.
Further behind, the fight for the final podium position was brought on by Canet pressurising Moreira, as the Spanish rider made his way through.
The Brazilian rider responded at the Dunlop chicane, with Canet being forced to save the bike after losing the rear on the exit of Turn 4.
The mistake from the Spaniard allowed Dixon to move into fourth as the Brit had his sights set on the podium.
Canet was undeterred by his error the lap before, as he regained fourth from Dixon at the chicane.
One lap later, the Spaniard found himself in third after producing another overtake at the chicane on Moreira.
Albert Arenas also proved to have some pace, as he made his way through on Dixon for fifth.
In the final two laps, the battle proved to be for the final podium position, as Dixon forced Arenas wide to take fifth.
At the front, Gonzalez took the chequered flag to confirm his victory by 1.811s.
Baltus earned second place after showcasing his blistering pace throughout, while team-mate Canet completed the podium in third.
Moreira narrowly missed out on the rostrum in fourth, while Dixon’s last pace saw him take fifth.
Arenas trailed behind the second group as he came home in sixth with Filip Salac taking seventh.
Celestino Vietti earned eighth over the line, with rookie Ivan Ortola splitting the Speed Up pair as he took ninth ahead of Alonso Lopez.
David Alonso finished 11th after serving a long lap penalty, while Joe Roberts took 12th over the line after battling Sergio Garcia.
Senna Agius took 14th as he outdragged Marcos Ramirez to the line, with the Spanish rider completing the points finishers in 15th.
