David Alonso produced a late charge from fifth to first as he claimed his maiden Moto2 victory at the brand-new Balaton Park circuit.
Alonso prevailed over championship contenders Manuel Gonzalez and Diogo Moreira on the final two laps of the race as he won his first-ever race in the intermediate class by 0.174s.
Gonzalez made the best start from third, as he held the inside line to take the lead from polesitter Moreira.
Further down the order, chaos struck at Turn 1 as four riders were taken out of contention, with Celestino Vietti, Yuki Kunii, Darryn Binder and Unai Orradre all falling victim to the difficult race start.
Amidst the drama behind, Jake Dixon made a strong start from the second row and managed to overtake both Moreira and Gonzalez for the lead of the race.
While both Moreira and Gonzalez looked to be the quicker riders throughout, Dixon’s strong late-braking allowed him to retain the lead ahead of the championship contenders.
However, on Lap 4 the Brazilian was able to use his superior pace to pass Dixon after the British rider ran onto the green paint at Turn 5.
A lap later, the championship leader made his move on Dixon to take second place, and attempted to close on Moreira who had set the fastest lap of the race.
A slight bobble for Moreira out of Turn 5 allowed Gonzalez to close the gap, with the Spaniard cutting three tenths out of the Brazilian’s lead in a single lap.
Aron Canet spent a number of laps looking to pass Dixon, but the rookie duo of Collin Veijer and David Alonso capitalised on the Spaniard’s drop in pace to take fourth and fifth respectively.
At the front, Gonzalez continued to close the gap between himself and the Brazilian and was finally able to take his opportunity on Lap 15, as he took the lead and immediately attempted to break away.
In the battle for the final podium positions behind, Alonso set a new lap record as he used his new-found pace to pass fellow rookie Veijer for fourth.
At the front, Gonzalez had a big moment on the curbs coming out of Turn 5 to allow Moreira to close in, but the Spaniard managed to retain his position, but brought the second group of Dixon and Alonso back into contention.
Alonso was able to use the change to his advantage, as he stole third place from Dixon going into the first corner and attempted to charge onto the back of the leading pair.
The reigning Moto3 World Champion studied the braking of Moreira ahead, and with two laps remaining he made his move at Turn 1, holding onto the position despite having his foot come off the side of his Aspar machine.
Gonzalez was next to come under pressure from the fast-charging Alonso, but the Colombian was unable to produce an overtake at his favoured Turn 1.
At Turn 9, Alonso finally decided to strike and forced Gonzalez wide at the chicane, as the Aspar rider looked on course to take a debut victory in the class.
The Colombian ran wide at the final chicane to allow Moreira one final opportunity to clinch the race victory, as the leading trio were level down the last straight.
Alonso came through to seal his maiden Moto2 victory as he became the first Colombian to win a race in the intermediate class.
Moreira maintained second place over the line despite contact with Gonzalez, with the disgruntled Spaniard completing the podium.
Dixon clinched fourth ahead of Veijer in fifth, while Canet eventually crossed the line in sixth.
Adrian Huertas produced his best result in Moto2 to date as he took seventh, as Filip Salac saw the chequered flag in eighth.
Daniel Holgado led fellow rookie Ivan Ortola over the line as the pair took ninth and 10th respectively, with Marcos Ramirez a distant 11th.
Barry Baltus was forced to take a long lap due to track limits but came home in 12th, as Zonta van den Goorbergh finished 13th.
Albert Arenas was involved in the first corner incident but crossed the line in 14th, as Tony Arbolino completed the points finishers in 15th.
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