Senna Agius delighted his home crowd as he captured a commanding Australian Moto2 victory in Phillip Island.
The Australian rider led every lap of the race as he cruised to a second career victory in dominant fashion, finishing three seconds clear at the chequered flag.
Agius made the best start from second on the grid and took the lead of his home grand prix going into Turn 1.
Moreira slotted into second after the first corner but crucially remained ahead of title rival Manuel Gonzalez over the course of the first lap.
Agius went deep in Turn 2 on the second lap, inviting Moreira to momentarily take the lead before the Intact GP rider responded in the Southern Loop to regain the position.
Gonzalez took advantage of his teammate’s overtake as he also found a way through on Moreira.
From briefly in the lead of the race, Moreira dropped down to fourth as rookie David Alonso stole third at Turn 4.
Alonso continued to show a strong early pace and made an overtake on championship leader Gonzalez for second position, demoting the Spaniard into the clutches of Moreira.
The Brazilian saw his opportunity to make a move at Turn 4, as he was able to get back ahead of his title rival and onto the podium.
On Lap 10, Alonso ran wide at Turn 10, which allowed both title contenders to get back through on the Colombian, with Moreira maintaining the advantage in second place.
Alonso once again ran wide and sat up on the exit of Turn 4, which also compromised Jake Dixon’s exit on the outside of the corner and set up a five-rider battle for fourth.
The Colombian rider continued to hold the advantage as the championship contenders continued to swap positions, with Gonzalez moving ahead twice due to the slipstream effect.
Moreira was able to respond to the Spaniard’s attacks each time and was given further help in the title battle as Alonso regained third position.
With five laps remaining, Gonzalez surrendered further positions to Dixon and Daniel Holgado, while Moreira also lost a place to Alonso.
Holgado looked to challenge for a late podium, passing Dixon and sizing up a move on Moreira, but the Spanish rookie ran wide to get demoted back to sixth.
The Spaniard immediately responded to his error, getting back past Gonzalez into Turn 1 before pressurising Dixon.
On the final lap, Baltus finally found his way through on Gonzalez to put further pressure on the
At the front, Agius cruised over the finish line to take victory in front of his home crowd by 3.684s
Alonso maintained his second place despite a final lap dash from Moreira.
The Brazilian completed the podium in third, closing the gap in the riders’ standings to just two points.
Holgado took fourth over the line ahead of Dixon in fifth, while Baltus confirmed his sixth place over Gonzalez at the chequered flag.
Albert Arenas lost touch with the podium battle in the final laps and came home in eighth, as Aron Canet took the flag in ninth.
Sasaki completed the top 10, narrowly defeating fellow rookie Adrian Huertas who took 11th.
Collin Veijer prevailed in a three-rider battle for 12th, beating Joe Roberts and Darryn Binder to the line.
Alonso Lopez completed the points finishers in 15th, 16 seconds behind race winner Agius.
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