From the outside of the front row, it was Bezzecchi who got a great start and looked likely to take the holeshot but an aggressive Martin dived through at Turn 1 to take the holeshot. Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) settled into second from pole position, just ahead of Di Giannantonio and then Bezzecchi after being shoved wide. At the start of lap two, Di Giannantonio got up the inside of Manzi into Turn 2 as he saw Martin trying to spark an early escape. Two laps later, Bezzecchi was able to follow Di Giannantonio through and demoted the MV Agusta man back to fourth.

Coming out of the final corner both Martin and Di Giannantonio had rear-end twitches in perfect unison with the Speed Up man’s moment allowing Bezzecchi through to second. One lap later, and at exactly the same spot, the SKY Racing Team VR46 rider slipped up the inside of Martin to hit the front and, with Bastianini down in eighth, close the title lead down to 12 points. In a half a lap to forget for Martin, Di Giannantonio then found a way past the KTM man too.

A lead group of four was starting to form at the front and Hector Garzo could see that, prompting a dive past Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) for fifth at the final corner. The fastest lap of the race at that time for the Spaniard saw him close in on the rear-end of Manzi and then move past the Italian to find himself in fourth and right in the podium fight.

15 laps remained of the Circuit Ricardo Tormo and the fight for the podium ignited following a mistake from Di Giannantonio out of the final corner. Martin was able to pull alongside him and edge in front but only for a split second, with the aggressive Di Giannantonio braking as late as possible to hold on to second. It offered a chance to Garzo on the run up to Turn 2 and the Spaniard took the chance with both hands, squeezing past the former Moto3™ World Champion for third.

Stefano Manzi’s incredible weekend then came to an unfortunate end as the MV Agusta man crashed out of contention, doing a favour for compatriot Bastianini who moved up to seventh as a result and extended his title lead to 13 points with 14 laps left. Four laps ticked by with the top three, for the moment, remaining as Bezzecchi, Di Giannantonio and Garzo. In terms of the title chase, Marini was set just ahead of Bastianini in sixth and, the battered and bruised, Sam Lowes was digging deep and picking his way through the field to sit 18th.