Aron Canet snatched back the Moto3 championship lead with victory at Brno, just heading chief rival Lorenzo Dalla-Porta to the flag.
Canet, who started the race from sixth, remained in the leading group throughout the 18 lap contest, but started to make his way forward in the closing laps in his winning bid.
He pulled off a superb around-the-outside move on Niccollo Antonelli at Turn 1 just starting the final lap, before charging up the inside of Tony Arbolino and Dalla-Porta just a couple of corners later.
This allowed him to pull a small gap, and as Dalla-Porta attacked the chasing Arbolino at Turn 11 Canet was able to pull a crucial few bike lengths that allowed him to take his own line into the final couple of corners.
The MAX Racing team rider got a good exit from the final turn and crossed the line for his second win of the season, just a couple-of-tenths clear of Dalla-Porta who had made his move on Arbolino stick, thus limiting the points damage as he slips to two points behind Canet in the riders standings.
Pole-man Arbolino was forced to make do with the third step of the podium in third on the first of the Snipers machines, with Jaume Masia taking fourth just behind.
Antonelli meanwhile secured an excellent fifth having started from pit lane following an issue on the formation lap for his SIC 58 Honda, the bike stalling and thus forcing him into the pit lane to get it restarted.
He had fought his way into the points after just seven laps after setting a string of fastest laps, getting as high as second in the race before slipping back in the final couple of laps.
Ai Ogura was sixth for the Honda Team Asia squad just ahead of Masia’s team-mate Andrea Migno on the second of the Bester Capital Dubai KTM’s, while Romano Fenati fell to eighth after looking good for a top three result for most of the race on the second Snipers Honda.
Home hero Jakub Kornfeil managed another top ten result in ninth, just ahead of Darryn Binder who rounded out the top ten finishers.
Several front running riders failed to finish the race, including front-row starter John McPhee. The Scotsman accidently engaged his pit-limiter off the start, therefore falling through the field and being collected by an unsighted Yuki Kunii.
McPhee was able to continue as Kunii went down, but was forced to pull into the pits and retire due to the damage sustained in the crash.
