IntactGP’s David Munoz waited until the final corner to strike as he prevailed in a dramatic German Moto3 race victory.
Munoz remained in second for the majority of the race, but a last corner lunge on championship leader Jose Antonio Rueda saw him take victory by 0.241s.
Polesitter Scott Ogden got the best start from and managed to hold his position down into the first corner.
Munoz also made a fantastic start after cutting to the inside line, benefitting from Alvaro Carpe forcing David Almansa wide as the Spaniard took second.
The IntactGP rider used his early pace to pass Ogden for the lead, with the pair looking to make an early escape from the group behind.
Going onto the third lap of the race, the fastest rider on track was Maximo Quiles, who overtook Cormac Buchanan to move into the podium positions.
Quiles continued to show his pace and forced an overtake on Ogden for second place, before taking Munoz for the lead of the race.
Carpe moved back into podium contention, but was awarded a long lap penalty for contact with Almansa at the first corner to remove him from the leading battle.
As the leading group expanded to 15 riders, Taiyo Furusato used his advantage to take second from Munoz, as the Spaniard duelled with compatriot Angel Piqueras for third.
Further down the order, championship leader Jose Antonio Rueda had contact with Adrian Fernandez, who crashed out one corner later after losing parts from his Leopard machine.
With the group getting closer, Quiles briefly relinquished the lead to Ryusei Yamanaka, before overtaking the Japanese rider on Lap 11.
However, one lap later the Spanish rookie ran wide and demoted himself off the podium, with Yamanaka, Rueda and Munoz all gaining positions.
With five laps to go, the championship leader decided it was time to take charge as he overtook Yamanaka at the front of the race.
Yamanaka refused to back down as he responded on Lap 14 to retake the lead, with Munoz and Furusato lurking in the background.
However, after an aggressive move from his compatriot, Yamanaka was demoted to fifth and dropped out of contention following a mistake at Turn 1.
Polesitter Ogden had remained in contact with the leaders but crashed at the first corner with four laps remaining.
With three laps remaining, Rueda continued to lead the race as the battle for third heated up, as Furusato and Quiles pulled aggressive moves in their attempts to remain on the rostrum.
Going onto the final lap of the race, Munoz decided it was time to strike as he moved into the lead at Turn 1.
Rueda didn’t take the move lightly as he immediately fought back to regain the lead of the race.
As the battle for the win continued, Quiles and Furusato were fighting for the final spot on the podium, but the Japanese rider crashed out at the penultimate corner to end his bid for victory.
At the final corner, Munoz used his final opportunity to force and overtake on Rueda, which brought the rest of the group into contention for a podium finish.
Munoz’s risk paid off as the Spanish rider took victory in IntactGP’s home grand prix by 0.241s.
Quiles benefited from Munoz’s last corner lunge to take second over the line, as Rueda finished third.
Piqueras missed out on the podium by 0.048s in fourth, while Carpe recovered from a long lap penalty to take fifth.
Joel Kelso was sixth despite struggling with injury, with Guido Pini taking the flag in seventh.
Jacob Roulstone completed the race in eighth ahead of Cormac Buchanan in ninth, while Marcos Uriarte rounded out the top 10.
Dennis Foggia recovered from the final row of the grid to 11th, with Valentin Perrone taking 12th and Stefano Nepa in 13th.
Riccardo Rossi crossed the line in 14th, as Yamanaka rounded out the points finishers in 15th.
