Pedro Acosta secured an assured victory in the Moto2 Portuguese Grand Prix having led all but one lap to take the chequered flag 1.3 seconds clear of Aron Canet.
The KTM Ajo racer maintained his starting spot of third through the opening few corners as pole-man Filip Salac and Canet disputed the leadership, Canet eventually settling into the leading position as Acosta slipped through to second.
He didn’t wait around though as by the end of the second tour he had managed to find a way past the Spaniard into the lead, where he duly tried to stretch the field.
The 2021 Moto3 world champion looked comfortable out in front as he and Canet pulled clear of the battle for third consisting of Salac, Manuel Gonzalez and Marc VDS rider Tony Arbolino.
Canet refused to lie down and die though as he remained firmly glued to Acosta’s rear wheel, though the leader had expertly saved his best until last and managed to extend his advantage over the final few laps – eventually crossing the line 1.358s ahead of Canet to secure his fourth intermediate class success.
Behind the leading duo it was Arbolino who managed to complete the rostrum placings, the Italian passing Gonzalez for the position late on but just lacking enough speed to make a run for the race win.
Salac also got the better of Gonzalez in the closing tours to claim fourth ahead of the Yamaha VR46 pilot, while Jake Dixon carved up the field from 12th on the grid to finish sixth.
Sam Lowes also moved up through the pack like his fellow Briton to take seventh on the other Marc VDS machine, with a fading Albert Arenas taking the flag eighth ahead of Jeremy Alcoba and Somkiat Chantra’s Honda Team Asia entry.
Celestino Vietti recovered to 11th having taken a double long-lap punishment as a result of ignoring black and orange flags shown to him in last season’s Valencia finale.
Darryn Binder looked good to challenge for a top ten position in his maiden Moto2 contest before a crash at mid-distance, the South African eventually re-mounting his Intact GP-run machine to take 16th.
Alonso Lopez failed to finish after suffering a disastrous opening outing, the Speed Up racer picking up a long lap penalty for taking out Bo Bensneyder at Turn 1 early on relegating him to 17th before a late crash eliminated him for good.
Pre-season title challenger Ai Ogura was absent from the Portuguese GP due to injury, as was reigning Moto3 world champion Izan Guevara – with both set to make their returns in the third round of the year at the Circuit of the Americas.
