The two future Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP teammates were split by just 0.059s at the finish line, as a last-lap charge by home hero Folger fell just short.

Zarco had arrived at the Sachsenring level on points with Suzuki signing Alex Rins, but leaves 25 points in the clear as the Spanish rider crashed out of third place with only three laps remaining.

That promoted Julian Simon to his first Grand Prix podium finish since Valencia 2012, the QMMF Speed Up rider finishing a full 20 seconds down on the leaders as one main beneficiaries of the heavy attrition.

Mattia Pasini was a further 10 seconds behind in fourth, ahead of Forward Racing duo Lorenzo Baldassarri - riding with an injured shoulder - and Luca Marini.

Renowned rain specialist Hafiz Syahrin was seventh, ahead of Jesko Raffin, who sealed by far his best career Grand Prix result in eighth, Issac Vinales and Dominique Aegerter.

Story of the race

Takaaki Nakagami had led the race from pole in the early stages, but crashed out at Turn 2 on the seventh lap, handing the advantage to Rins, who led Folger, Zarco and Franco Morbidelli.

Folger and Rins proceeded to swap the lead before the former dropped back, with Morbidelli picking up the pace to carve his way through to first place, barging aside Rins in a move that dropped the Spaniard behind Zarco in third.

But, just when it looked that Morbidelli was on course for a maiden victory, the Italian crashed out with seven laps to go at Turn 1.

That turned the lead fight into a three-way dice between Zarco, Rins and a resurgent Folger, until Rins' late exit, at which point Zarco had a second in hand over Folger and looked comfortable for the win.

Nonetheless, the Frenchman didn't count on Folger closing him down over the course of the last two laps, the German having a go at the inside of the last corner but just missing out.

Other high-profile crashers included championship contender Sam Lowes, who had been running sixth in the early stages before suffering the first of two falls, the second of which put him out for good.

Alex Marquez was another man to crash twice, the first one coming while he was running a promising fifth, while Morbidelli also suffered a second fall after his first that cost him the lead.

Nakagami, on the other hand, was able to stay mounted for an 11th place finish.

Cla	Driver	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Johann Zarco	Kalex	47'18.646
2	Jonas Folger	Kalex	0.059
3	Julian Simon	Speed Up	20.433
4	Mattia Pasini	Kalex	30.455
5	Lorenzo Baldassarri	Kalex	31.771
6	Luca Marini	Kalex	34.201
7	Hafizh Syahrin	Kalex	41.942
8	Jesko Raffin	Kalex	47.955
9	Isaac Viñales	Tech 3	49.759
10	Dominique Aegerter	Kalex	51.047
11	Takaaki Nakagami	Kalex	1'05.386
12	Remy Gardner	Kalex	1'13.865
13	Robin Mulhauser	Kalex	1'19.545
14	Edgar Pons	Kalex	1'30.502
15	Sandro Cortese	Kalex	2 Laps
R	Alex Rins	Kalex	3 Laps
R	Franco Morbidelli	Kalex	3 Laps
R	Sam Lowes	Kalex	4 Laps
R	Alex Marquez	Kalex	5 Laps
R	Xavier Simeon	Speed Up	8 Laps
R	Thomas Luthi	Kalex	12 Laps
R	Axel Pons	Kalex	19 Laps
R	Ratthapark Wilairot	Kalex	21 Laps
R	Simone Corsi	Speed Up	24 Laps
R	Xavi Vierge	Tech 3	24 Laps
R	Marcel Schrötter	Kalex	25 Laps
R	Miguel Oliveira	Kalex	26 Laps