Aspar rider Daniel Holgado dominated the field as he cruised to a maiden Moto2 victory at his home race in Barcelona.
Holgado overcame an early challenge from Jake Dixon as he earned a first win in the intermediate class, becoming the second rookie to win a Moto2 race this campaign after team-mate David Alonso.
Polesitter Holgado made the best start of the riders on the front row and easily maintained his lead over Dixon into the first corner.
Manuel Gonzalez also got a stunning getaway and moved into third place after starting down the order in 12th.
Further down the order, Filip Salac was forced wide as the riders jostled for position down the order, while Ayumu Sasaki was forced out wide and suffered a high-speed crash at Turn 4.
Replacement rider Daniel Munoz was running a strong race, and passed Izan Guevara and Manuel Gonzalez to move into third place.
Munoz’s knowledge of the Barcelona circuit proved to be decisive in the early stages, as he passed Dixon for second place in a surprising early flourish.
The championship leader was visibly frustrated after losing two positions and tapped the back of his seat to tell Alonso Lopez to follow his lead.
After spending the opening quarter of the race behind Guevara, Gonzalez made his move on his compatriot to gain fourth place.
However, Guevara was able to regain the position from the title favourite as the pair continued battling for fourth place.
Aron Canet set the fastest lap of the race as he looked to make a charge from 10th place, but suffered a heavy crash at Turn 5 to end his hopes of closing the gap to Gonzalez.
Celestino Vietti was having issues with his transponder, but was able to put passes on Collin Veijer and team-mate Alonso Lopez to move into sixth.
As the Italian closed in on the battle for fourth, Gonzalez finally made a move stick on Guevara as he claimed the initiative in Turn 2.
In the closing stages of the race, the tyres began degrading which allowed the experienced riders to show their prowess, with Dixon using his advantage to regain second from Munoz.
However, Dixon had nothing left to respond to the race leader, with Holgado holding a comfortable margin on the final tour of the circuit.
The Spanish rider crossed the line to claim his first win in the Moto2 class, dominating the field as he ran out 2.5s clear of the pack.
Dixon left it late but was able to clinch second, as Munoz confirmed his podium debut in third.
Gonzalez extended his advantage in the championship by claiming fourth place ahead of Guevara in fifth.
Despite transponder issues, Vietti crossed the line in sixth place ahead of team-mate Lopez in seventh.
Alonso had a late charge through the field as he took the flag in eighth, while fellow rookie Veijer was a second behind in ninth.
Barry Baltus narrowly beat Ivan Ortola to the line to complete the top 10, with the American Racing pair of Joe Roberts and Marcos Ramirez in 12th and 13th, respectively.
Diogo Moreira was awarded a long lap penalty for a track limits infringement, but served it on the final lap of the race and came home in 14th.
Zonta van den Goorbergh rounded out the points finishers in 15th.
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