David Almansa overcame a late challenge from Maximo Quiles to claim victory in a tense final-lap showdown in the Japanese Moto3 race.
Almansa prevented Quiles from taking his first opportunity to claim the Moto3 title with his victory, closing the gap in the standings to 127 points after the Aspar rider needed it to exceed 150 to win.
Polesitter Almansa made the best start and was able to block the line on the run down to Turn 1 to keep hold of the lead.
Maximo Quiles was immediately up into second, although Brian Uriarte responded almost as quickly and then passed Almansa for the lead.
Uriarte’s lead was only brief as Almansa got back in front of the KTM Ajo rider one corner later, as just behind the duo David Munoz pulled an opportunistic move to get past both Quiles and Alvaro Carpe for third.
Uriarte returned to lead the race two laps later after another pass at Turn 11, but this time made the move stick on Almansa to head the pack of eighth riders.
Carpe, meanwhile, was able to make a move on Quiles for third as the pair slightly dropped back from Uriarte and Almansa, but bridged the gap after
Quiles ran wide at Turn 11 on Lap 4, which gave the leading trio some breathing room after the Aspar rider was forced to scrap with Rico Salmela and Munoz to stay in fourth.
As Uriarte looked comfortable fending off Almansa and Carpe, he was awarded a double long lap penalty after his KTM Ajo team were adjudged to have kept working on his bike after the three minute board went up.
Uriarte’s first long lap saw him drop in the gap between fourth-placed Salmela and fifth-placed Matteo Bertelle, who had moved to the front of the second group.
Although he managed to get back in front of Salmela after his first long lap, he dropped behind the Finn on his second effort which virtually ended his podium chances.
Meanwhile, Almansa stretched his advantage out front for as long as he could, holding both Quiles and Carpe at bay.
However, on the penultimate lap, Quiles kept closing and closing on the long-time race leader and spent the last lap searching for a way through.
Although the pair were nose-to-tail on the run to the line, Almansa had enough to hold onto the lead and take victory at the chequered flag.
The result meant that Quiles would have to wait another week in his title bid with his second place, and was visibly disappointed not to take the race win.
Carpe claimed the final spot on the podium in third, despite Uriarte’s attempts to close in after his penalty behind.
Salmela had another good ride in fifth, with Matteo Bertelle in sixth a long way ahead of the next group of riders – fronted by David Munoz in seventh, who narrowly outdragged Ryusei Yamanaka to the line.
The riders from ninth to 15th were covered by less than a second as Joel Esteban led a close scrap for the final points positions in ninth, while Adrian Cruces rounded out the top 10.
Veda Pratama was 11th at the flag ahead of Hakim Danish in 12th and Adrian Fernandez in 13th, while Valentin Perrone narrowly beat Casey O’Gorman to 14th as the two riders completed the points finishers.
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