Darryn Binder flew to a first ever Moto3 victory in the Catalan Grand Prix after snatching the lead on the final tour, while Albert Arenas and John McPhee crashed out.
Binder utilised his strong ninth-placed qualifying performance to compete within the leading group across the entirety of the 21 lap encounter, establishing himself firmly in the top five as the race entered its final stages.
The South African moved himself into second heading onto the final lap behind leader Dennis Foggia, Binder staying in the wheel tracks across the first part of the tour as he looked for a way past.
He took his opportunity at Turn 5, diving down the inside on Foggia and into the lead, pole-man Tony Arbolino also sliding past the Honda into second.
The CIP Green Power racer looked strong in the lead, and batted away all the pressure thrown at him by the chasing Arbolino to hold firm to the line, taking the chequered flag 0.103 clear of the Snipers machine.
Foggia was forced to make do with the final spot on the rostrum in third, just holding off Sergio Garcia and MAX Racing’s Alonso Lopez.
Jaume Masia failed to remain with his Leopard Racing team-mate in the podium tussle after leading with only a few laps remaining, slipping to seventh at the death behind the second MAX Racing Husqvarna of Romano Fenati.
Celestino Vietti recovered from his 17th place grid position to grab eighth, while Niccolo Antonelli and Gabriel Rodrigo completed the top ten.
Championship challenger Ai Ogura suffered throughout the Catalan GP after only qualifying 24th, the Honda Team Asia rider salvaging 11th after picking up ten places on the opening lap-therefore moving him into the points lead by three due to Arenas’ demise.
McPhee tried to challenge Arenas for the lead after only half-a-dozen laps into the Turn 4 right-hander, but misjudged the speed he was carrying on the tighter inside line-losing the front of his Petronas SRT Honda.
He then skittled into the unfortunate Arenas as a result, cleaning out the furious Aspar pilot and leaving them both to end their contests in the gravel trap.
Arbolino’s runner-up result means he has now lifted himself into firm title contention, the Italian now just three points down on McPhee and 27 behind leader Ogura.
