British Moto3 rider Tom Booth-Amos secured his best Grand Prix result of the season so far and edged closer to his first goal of scoring championship points at the Le Mans MotoGP round.

Booth-Amos went into the French round with confidence high despite nursing a leg injury which has meant a revised training regime.

The youngster had some new chassis setup ideas and riding style changes in consultation with his team meant the 2017 British Motostar champion was keen to demonstrate his speed.

In the closing stages and with a points-scoring finish in site, Booth-Amos put a pass on fellow rookie and KTM rider Can Öncü but the move was deemed too aggressive by race officials and saw the British rider handed a 1.8 second penalty at the end of the race.

After 22 laps and with the penalty included, Tom was classified 17th place and incredibly close to his first world championship points, lapping 0.8 seconds faster than he had done all weekend.

“Overall, we made a big step this weekend with the bike, I feel more confident with it but I still have a lot of work to do to bridge the gap to the leaders," he said.

A small mistake in the garage during qualifying affected our chance for a better grid position, but these things happen and I feel we are really gaining momentum now.

“I want to thank my friends, family, fans, supporters and everyone who has sent me good wishes – it means a lot. These are the best riders in the world we are racing against, but we are closing them down.

“I need to get my leg back to full strength before Mugello, bounce back and hopefully score some points.”