With nine to go, a Noah’s Ark formation appeared as second to seventh were two-by-two, roughly half a second between the pairings. Dovi and Rossi locked together, Morbidelli and Petrucci interchanging for fourth with Rins and Miller engaged in battle. Morbidelli soon found himself down in seventh though, Rins and Miller getting the better of him. Meanwhile, Marquez’ gap had opened up to 12 seconds.

The group had closed back up again but with five laps remaining, Dovi and Rossi were edging out an advantage over the chasing pack, with Petrucci, Rins and Miller squabbling for fourth place. Both Rins and Miller getting the better of Petrucci at Turn 5 with three to go.

Heading into the last lap it was Dovi leading Rossi. Both were clear of fourth, but which step of the podium would they be standing on? Dovizioso was able to keep second as the Yamaha had no match for the Ducati grunt down the straight, but ‘The Doctor’ sliced his way through on his countryman at Turn 7. A long way up the road, Marquez cruised round to take his first win of the season in scintillating fashion. A Marquez masterclass in Termas, with Rossi earning his first podium since the 2018 German GP. Dovi came home third, achieving his pre-race aims of a podium finish to head to Austin four points behind Marquez in the Championship.