The Yamaha rider crossed the line more than 10 seconds clear of his teammate Valentino Rossi, with Maverick Vinales on a Suzuki in third.

Lorenzo, who takes over the lead of the 2016 title race from Marc Marquez, was completing a perfect weekend in Le Mans after setting a record-breaking lap in qualifying on Saturday.

The defending world champion enjoyed a serene afternoon at the historic Bugatti circuit, avoiding mayhem behind with no fewer than eight riders parting company from their bikes.

One of those to crash was Marquez, who remounted his Honda to trail in at the rear of the pack.

With 13 laps to go Marquez and Dovizioso exited the scene in carbon copy crashes on turn seven, their bikes slipping from underneath them, to promote Vinales to third.

Marquez manfully climbed back on board as, unaffected by all that drama, Lorenzo raced smoothly out in front, well clear of Rossi, who was unable to follow up his win in Spain a fortnight ago.