Daniel Holgado completed a commanding lights-to-flag performance to take victory in the Japanese Moto2 race at Motegi.
Holgado controlled the race from the first lap as he sealed his second victory of his debut Moto2 season by over a second.
Celestino Vietti made a great start from the second row of the grid and looked to take the lead, but was unable to thread his way through Manuel Gonzalez and David Alonso and was forced out wide.
Moreira inherited the lead of the race, but immediately found himself under pressure from Holgado, and the Spanish rookie took the lead of the race.
Tony Arbolino also made a good start to the race and managed to get past David Alonso to move into the podium positions, with Jake Dixon also finding a way through on the Colombian.
Gonzalez pulled a late move on Vietti at Turn 10 as both riders tried to respond to their compromised starts in eighth and ninth, but the Spaniard made contact with the Italian and forced him out of the race.
The championship leader received a long lap penalty for his role in the crash, but could take comfort in his title rival Moreira struggling ahead. The Brazilian lost second place to Arbolino, before Dixon demoted him off the rostrum.
Arbolino had a moment at Turn 14 in which the Italian had to produce a save, which allowed Dixon to pass for second place.
As Moreira closed in on the Italian, championship rival Gonzalez regained one of the positions he lost while serving his long lap by making a move on Albert Arenas for eighth.
Gonzalez continued his charge into seventh place by overtaking compatriot Ivan Ortola, with the Spaniard needing to close a two second gap to make further progress through the field.
Moreira wanted to extend his control over the struggling Gonzalez, and took advantage of the struggling Arbolino to take the final spot on the podium.
The Italian lost a further position to Alonso behind, with apparent tyre issues and fatigue following arm pump surgery behind Arbolino’s slow demise.
Baltus struggled to get past the ailing Arbolino, which opened the door for Gonzalez to overtake the Belgian in a bid to make it in the top five.
Gonzalez wasted no time in passing the Italian ahead, salvaging a promising result following a difficult start to the race.
At the front, Holgado took the chequered flag to complete a stunning performance, earning his second victory in his rookie campaign by 1.304s.
Dixon crossed the line in second, while Moreira fended off a late charge from Alonso to complete the podium.
Gonzalez rounded out the top five despite his long lap penalty, as Arbolino managed to keep Baltus at bay in the battle for sixth.
Ivan Ortola was eighth at the flag, while Arenas finished just a tenth ahead of Collin Veijer over the line.
There was a tight battle for 11th, with Alonso Lopez running out the victor over Marcos Ramirez in 12th and Filip Salac in 13th.
Ayumu Sasaki earned points at his home race in 14th, while Aron Canet rounded out the points finishers in 15th.
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