David Munoz was not “dirty” in his last-lap manoeuvre at the Moto3 French Grand Prix, he has been reassured.

The sometimes controversial Munoz had waited the entire ꦚrace to pounce on Joel Kelso, who led from the start until the fiꦑnal lap.

But when Munꦡoz tried to edge past, bo꧂th riders ran wide, enabling Jose Antonio Rueda to nip in and win the race.

Munoz finished second but was demoted a place, back behi𒁃nd ꦯKelso, for the final-lap incident.

However, despite this being the latest in a long line of co🐻ntroversies for Munoz, his move against Kelso has been defended.

“I think the door was oꦡpen,” TNT Sports’ Sylvain Guintoli analysed.

“Munoz did go for it,🌺 as you would, on a last-co🥀rner last-lap manoeuvre.

“He ♎ca🔥me in hard, the contact happened. The penalty is justified because they both ran wide.

“Would he have made the cornerཧ if Kelso wasn’t there? Probably not. So that’s the right call.

“For me, Kelso lost tꦇhat race. He did everything perfectly. But the last move - you’ve got to cover. On the last lap, you’ve got to ꧑be in the middle of the track, nobody can overtake on the inside, nobody can pass on the inside.

“Do, basically, a road꧑ block. That’s 🍸how you win that race.

“It’s unfortunate fo𓆉r Kelso becau💯se I had a good feeling for him. I felt it could be his race. He did everything perfectly until that moment.”

Michael Laverty added: “You can see why the𝔉y c♛hose to demote Munoz.

“There is an argument to say he may have stayed on the track, if he hadn’t made contact. But because he took bot💎h of them off the track, they went over the green paint, and he created that cont🐟acted. So you have to demote him a position to have continuity in the rules.

“But the door was open. Munoz was not uওltra dirty.

“At the last corner, you’ve got to go for it. Joel’s tactic was to go as fast as possible aroun🐼d the racing line but it didn’t work out.”