Celestino Vietti converted pole into victory at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya after passing Aron Canet on the final tour to win by just 0.081s
Vietti had to work for Spanish supremacy though after dropping back to fourth off the start, while Jake Dixon went the other from the same position to lead into Turn 1, though Italtrans ace Joe Roberts soon made the leadership his own at Turn 5.
The American looked set to check out as he crafted a 2.4 second gap out in front to Canet and Dixon behind, though disaster would arrive after losing the front of his machine at Turn 5 at mid-distance, leaving him to retire and promoting Dixon into the lead having just moved clear of the Pons rider.
Vietti meanwhile had looked after his rubber well and began to move through the pack towards the end, moving through the rostrum riders until he finally passed Canet for the lead with half-a-dozen laps remaining.
Determined to score a first Moto2 victory though, Canet doggedly clung onto the rear of the Italian and moved back a couple laps later, the duo then proceeding to enjoy a spirited battle across the final few tours.
The crucial move was made at Turn 10 on the last circulation after Canet ran wide on entry to the bend after taking a defensive line, Vietti diving up the inside into a lead he would never relinquish despite Canet getting a strong run from the final turn.
Vietti’s success was his third of the year, while Canet notched up his third runners-up result in the past four events.
Augusto Fernandez completed the podium after snatching third from Dixon on the final lap, the Briton running wide at Turn 11 and allowing the KTM Ajo racer through.
Fifth went the way of Intact GP’s Marcel Schrotter with Pedro Acosta recovering from 12th on the grid to sixth ahead of Ai Ogura, who now drops to 16 points adrift of series leader Vietti having entered the weekend level on points with the VR46 man.
Alonso Lopez was eighth for Speed Up ahead of Manuel Gonzalez, with Tony Arbolino completing the top ten despite having taken a long-lap penalty for track limits mid-way through the contest.
Sam Lowes collected his fourth-straight DNF after crashing from sixth late on, while Albert Arneas went out from the same spot just moments earlier after seemingly running into technical trouble with his GasGas Aspar entry.
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