Philipp Oettl claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory at the 91st attempt after holding off Marco Bezzecchi at Jerez. The pair broke away from a sixteen-rider group following a collision involving title favourites Aron Canet, Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini, an incident which opened the door for Bezzecchi to take the series lead by eight points.
Oettl had moved to the front of the race for the first time at half-distance, slipstreaming past Bastianini on the approach to turn one, but the approach to the Dry Sack hairpin would see the defining incident on lap nineteen.
Under braking for the right-hander, Canet lost control and slid into the championship leader Martin with the chain reaction skittling Bastianini and the luckless Tony Arbolino out as well. All four riders were eliminated on the spot with Canet set to start the next race from the back of the grid as punishment for triggering the mayhem.
The drama caused a split in the leading group with Oettl and Bezzecchi the right side of it, three seconds clear of their pursuers. The fight for the remaining rostrum spot was won by the sensational Alonso Lopez, the 16-year-old rookie recovering from a collision with Oettl early on which relegated him to eighteenth. However, the Estrella Galicia rider would be demoted one final time after race direction adjudged him to have exceeded track limits.
As a result, Marcos Ramirez was promoted up to third for his first podium of the season with Lopez classified fourth ahead of Jaume Masia on the second Bester Capital Dubai KTM. Tatsuki Suzuki was sixth ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio with Jakub Kornfeil, Kaito Toba and Gabriel Rodrigo completing the top ten.
Moto3 Gran Premio Red Bull de Espana: (Result)
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