Manuel Gonzalez’s tyre-preservation masterclass helped secure his second Moto2 race win of the season in Catalunya.
Gonzalez pipped poleman Vietti to take the holeshot, but on the flip-flop the Italian regained the lead.
The lead duo held firm throughout the first lap, but the notable jump in positions saw Pramac Yamaha’s Izan Guevara rise from 11th to fifth.
Likewise with David Alonso, who rose from 13th to seventh place, putting himself right behind his team-mate.
Vietti dictated the pace at the front inside the opening phases, but the gap hadn’t increased further than half a second.
Guevara slotted past Gresini’s Alonso Lopez into fourth on Lap 3, with Daniel Holgado overtaking his fellow countryman too.
With all the lead group stretched out, Vietti posted back-to-back fastest laps to forge a half second advantage.
By third-race distance, the CFMoto Aspar duo of Holgado and Alonso rose to fifth and sixth, but the Colombian relinquished sixth after Senna Agius’ ambitious move in the final sector.
The Australian sandwiched both Aspar riders for the following laps, before Alonso lost more ground and fell to ninth by Lap 10.
Agius then dropped two places as Alonso and Filip Salac oveertook down the start-finish straight with four laps to go.
Gonzalez took the lead for the first time since Turn 1 of Lap 1, but Vietti was not giving up without a fight.
Vietti had a major wobble on the penultimate lap, allowing Gonzalez to build a multiple bike length advantage.
Behind, Pramac’s Guevara sealed third spot off Ivan Ortola, showing late-race pace to close out the podium spots.
Gonzalez wrapped up his second win of the season after prevailing in the season opener, closely followed by Vietti.
Guevara rounded off the podium spots four seconds behind, followed by Ortola and the Aspar duo of Holgado and Alonso.
American Racing’s Salac claimed seventh after a late move on Lopez, with Luca Lunetta and Agius rounding off the top 10.
Daniel Munoz posted 11th ahead of Moto3 champion Jose Antonio Rueda, with Barry Baltus, Aron Canet and Ayumu Sasaki securing the final points.
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