Angel Piqueras stormed from third to first in the closing stages of the Barcelona Moto3 race to claim his fourth victory of the season.
Piqueras remained in touch with the race leaders throughout the late stages, and struck on the final lap of the race to claim victory by just 0.081s.
David Almansa made the best start from pole position, and lead down into Turn 1, a position where he would stay for the first half of the race
Maximo Quiles also charged through the pack in the early stages, progressing from ninth into second by the end of the opening lap.
Jose Antonio Rueda also made a strong start from eighth on the grid, but dropped to 14th after Lap 2 due to serving long lap penalty he picked up in qualifying.
The leading group remained a pack of 14 riders, with the changing positions behind Almansa changing lap-on-lap due to the strong slipstream effect on the main straight.
Halfway through the race Quiles took the lead, with the slipstream effect aiding the overtake on fellow Spaniard Almansa going into the first corner.
However, Almansa was able to regain the lead at Turn 3, with Piqueras also making his way through on Quiles after an aggressive pass.
Further down in the leading group, Jacob Roulstone suffered a technical problem while running inside the top 10 and was forced to pull out of the race.
Rueda took the initiative on lap 11 as he passed Quiles and Almansa for the lead of the race.
Quiles looked to be the rider ready to rival Rueda at the front, but the Spaniard was nudged off the track at Turn 2 and was demoted from third down to 14th after following the long lap loop.
Yamanaka progressed into the top five from 26th on the grid, but a clash with compatriot Taiyo Furusato caused the Japanese rider to drop back into seventh.
With three laps to go, the leading pair of Rueda and Piqueras began to pull away from the rest of the field, but were reeled back in when Adrian Fernandez headed the chasing pack.
On the final lap, Piqueras had the vital slipstream heading down into the first corner and despite Rueda weaving down the straight, the Spanish rider claimed the lead of the race.
Rueda lost a further position to Furusato, with the Japanese rider looking to be the nearest challenger to Piqueras’ victory.
The championship leader wasn’t going down without a fight, and pulled a move on Furusato into the last corner to take second and attempted one final charge at Piqueras.
MT Helmets’ Piqueras managed to hold on as he crossed the line to claim victory by just 0.081s over his championship rival.
Rueda had to settle for second as Furusato claimed the final spot on the podium in third.
Polesitter Almansa led the Leopard charge as he took fourth over the line, while team-mate Adrian Fernandez claimed fifth.
Rookie Guido Pini took a sixth-place at the flag, beating out the experienced Joel Kelso in seventh and team-mate David Munoz in eighth.
Yamanaka’s charge from last on the grid saw him score points in ninth, while Valentin Perrone completed the top 10.
Luca Lunetta returned to Moto3 action and scored points in 11th, as Quiles struggled to 12th after being forced off the track while running second.
Alvaro Carpe earned 13th place over the line, besting Britain’s Scott Ogden in 14th, while Marcos Uriarte completed the finishers in 15th.
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