It was Marini from pole position who got a strong start but there was an even better one coming from Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Xavi Vierge as he squeezed his way into the lead and the hit the front of a Moto2™ race for the first time in 2020. There was a strong start coming from his Petronas Sprinta Racing teammate too as Jake Dixon settled into fifth.

Lap one was only just completed when Bezzecchi made a mistake into Turn 1, dropping himself back to sixth. Bastianini then got the gloves off nice and early with a brave dive past Marini, sending his compatriot wide and allowing Dixon to swoop through to third.

Marini recovered though and settled back into third, with Bastianini himself not wanting to hang around as he quickly set his sights on Vierge. He tried once again to muscle his way further up the field with an aggressive move on the Spaniard ahead, but Vierge saw it coming and was able to hold onto the lead for now.

In a frantic start, Bastianini then slipped back to third when Marini asserted some revenge on his title rival. He wasn’t the only SKY Racing Team VR46 man on the move too, as Bezzecchi’s recovery was aided by a move past Dixon into fourth. He then followed his teammate through on Bastianini too with a perfectly executed move into Turn 1.

Tennor American Racing’s Joe Roberts suffered a huge highside further back and required a trip to the medical centre as a result, before thankfully being declared fit. Then, out of the blue, the rain started to fall on the Rimini Riviera and chaos quickly follow. Raindrops on the rider’s visors clearly was effecting the leading group with Vierge, in particular, looking like he was struggling. The Catalan tentatively braked into Turn 7 and allowed Bastianini, Marini and Bezzecchi all to swoop through.

The rain was getting heavier by the second yet Fabio Di Giannantonio (Beta Tools Speed Up) continued to push to the limit and the Italian suddenly found himself in podium contention. Bastianini, meanwhile, was breaking clear at the front of the race when the red flags were brought out as a result of the rain starting to intensify. Riders filtered into pit lane and a ten lap restart was announced.