Thomas Luthi made a remarkable comeback from his injury at Brno to take victory in the British Grand Prix but the headlines will be made by a controversial collision between Johann Zarco and Sam Lowes. The two tangled while fighting for second with Lowes knocked down to 21st while Zarco was handed a 30 second penalty, relegating him out of the points.
The race appeared to be going to plan for Lowes after resisting the early challenge from Jonas Folger but Luthi was on a charge, sweeping past Zarco into Maggots before leading the Frenchman past Lowes in a slipstreaming battle down the Hangar straight. Lowes appeared to be thrown off his game by the double-overtake, falling into the clutches of fourth-placed Franco Morbidelli, but the home favourite soon regrouped.
The front three remained locked together but the fight for victory was settled in unfortunate circumstances four laps from home. Having been outdragged down the Wellington Straight by Lowes, Zarco made an ambitious move up the inside into Brooklands. With Lowes taking the racing line, the two tangled with the home favourite punted out of the points. Although Zarco regrouped to finish sixth, a post-race penalty ensured he wouldn’t score either.
Luthi stayed ahead of the drama to take a well-deserved victory while Morbidelli equalled his career-best in second. Takaaki Nakagami held onto third, denying Hafizh Syahrin a first dry-weather rostrum, while Folger faded to fifth.
Lorenzo Baldassarri was sixth ahead of a brave Alex Rins who has now closed to within ten points of the championship lead courtesy of Zarco’s non-score. Simone Corsi was eighth ahead of compatriot Mattia Pasini while Axel Pons rounded out the top ten.
