Aron Canet decimated his rivals in the Aragon Moto3 contest, beating Ai Ogura by 4.5 seconds while title rival Lorenzo Dalla Porta struggled.
Canet led away from pole and initially looked like he would be able to pull away from second placed Ogura and build an advantage, but lost his gap as Alonso Lopez moved into second and drafted himself onto the back of the Spaniard.
The MAX Racing rider never lost the lead though despite several challenges into the final corner following the long back straight, and was gifted a small gap as Misano winner Tatsuki Suzuki fought his way to second.
Now just under a second ahead of the rest, Canet was able to keep this gap down the back straight, allowing him to start building his advantage over the succeeding laps.
He quickly built his lead to over three seconds-at times posting times over a second quicker than anyone else as they battled behind- and continued to control his gap despite suffering a track limits scare late on.
He refrained from getting a penalty though and serenely crossed the line 4.5 seconds clear of the battling cluster behind.
Ogura continued to hold station in second as the final lap got underway, but was passed with a bold move by Dennis Foggia into Turn 5, dropping to third.
The Honda Team Asia pilot fended off Lopez behind and got nicely tucked in behind Foggia as they entered the back straight for the final time, drafting alongside the VR46 rider and diving past into the final corner to snatch second and his first ever podium finish, with Foggia taking third and his own first rostrum of the season.
John McPhee finished fouth after braking impossible late and shooting past Lopez into the final corner as the Estrella Galicia man was held up by the battling Ogura and Foggia in front, with Lopez forced to settle for fifth as a result.
Suzuki came home sixth ahead of Sergio Garcia- who recovered from 28th on the grid to finish seventh- while Albert Arenas pipped Gabriel Rodrigo for eighth at the line.
Dalla Porta meanwhile had a tough race, struggling for speed throughout and only moving into the top ten on the final lap, salvaging six points for tenth and clinging to a slashed championship lead thanks to Canet’s victory.
The Leopard Racing man is now just three points clear heading to the first of the flyaway’s at Buriram in Thailand, while third placed Tony Arbolino slips to 31 behind after fading late in the race to 11th.
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