Yamaha's Alex Lowes had to contend with a completely destroyed front tyre in the first race at Magny-Cours today as it fell to bits on the right side.

Lowes fought within the group contesting second place until a severe drop off in grip from the front tyre forced him to moderate his pace and settle for a solid sixth place at the line.

The result consolidates his third place in the championship standings, giving him an 11-point advantage over today's race winner, Toprak Razgatlioglu in fourth and 12 points over his fifth placed teammate, Michael van der Mark.

"I knew from the start that it was going to be a difficult race, because our dry track time this weekend has been so limited," said Lowes.

"I got a good start and made my way up to fourth, but then six or seven laps into the race I started to struggle a lot with the front tyre and by the end of the race, one side was completely destroyed.

"This meant that, unfortunately, the second half of the race was about making it to the finish rather than pushing to gain places, as there wasn't much more I could do. While we didn't have the package to fight today, we've got plenty of time to think about it tonight and a couple of races to try and do better tomorrow."