This left a group of five at the front, led by Bezzecchi, with Dalla Porta, Martin, Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider) and Di Giannantonio in hot pursuit. The paint swapping then commenced, with Dalla Porta showing his strength down the back straight and into the fast sweeping left handers, getting the better of his compatriot Bezzecchi there on numerous occasions. ‘Diggia’ made his way to the front from fifth, but none of the top five could make the break or hold the lead for much more than a single lap – with Bezzecchi getting two separate warnings for exceeding track limits.

The quintet was feisty and ferocious and with little over two laps to go, Di Giannantonio misjudged the braking zone heading into the tight T14 – narrowly avoiding Bezzecchi and Dalla Porta as he ran in too hot up the inside. However, in what could be a Championship defining moment, race leader Bezzecchi was too eager on the gas coming out of Turn 15. The Italian was flicked off his KTM as he crashed out of contention with a just over a lap to go, as title rival Martin somehow avoided being collected by Bezzecchi’s bike.

This left Dalla Porta in charge on the final lap and despite the best efforts of Di Giannantonio on the final corner, lunging up the inside of his compatriot, Dalla Porta won the drag to the finish line to take his maiden Grand Prix win, made even sweeter on home soil. Martin managed to out-run teammate ‘Diggia’ to the line to take a vital second, the latter settling for third at his home GP, with Rodrigo finishing 0.822 off the win in fourth.