With 17 laps remaining Lorenzo started to find his rhythm as he looked to close the gap to the front four, followed by Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso and Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. A lap later Hayden tried to dart past Bautista into third, but ran too wide, allowing the Spaniard back in. Soon after Stoner made his move past Spies, as the Texan made a mistake, also going too hot into a turn.

More overtaking was to follow, as Lorenzo took advantage of a gap left by Hayden to hunt down Bautista. Just seconds after, Hayden left yet another gap for Dovizioso to push the American even further back. With Stoner having pulled out a small gap at the front, Lorenzo did not want his rival to get way and forced his way past Bautista, relegating the San Carlo rider into fourth.

The tussle was not to stop, as Lorenzo stormed past his teammate into second, with Spies being overtaken by Bautista as well a corner later. In the same bend Pedrosa snuck past Dovizioso, who kept on the Spaniard’s rear wheel to retake him just a few corners later. The Italian continued his charge as he fought past early leader Spies, with Pedrosa following suit, relegating the Texan into sixth.

With 11 laps left Lorenzo was closing in on the rear wheel of Stoner, starting a thrilling battle for top spot. On the same lap Dovizioso crashed out of his positions, while his teammate Cal Crutchlow fought past LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl into seventh.

Heading into lap nine, Lorenzo took Stoner on the final turn, yet the Australian fought straight back in the next turn, as the pair kept the crowd on their toes with some thrilling moves. As one Repsol Honda was overtaken, the other in the form of Pedrosa went up into third.

A lap further on, the duo of Pedrosa and Bautista started to slowly close the gap on Stoner, who looked to be slowing. With six laps left it turned into a three-way battle for second place, as Lorenzo was opening a gap at the front. On the same lap, Ducati’s Valentino Rossi, who was the only rider to pick the hard rear tyre, took Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá for ninth. Speed Masters Mattia Pasini retired from the race with a mechanical issue.

Lorenzo suffered a slight scare with four laps left as he was almost thrown from his bike, but he managed to save it and retain the lead, albeit with a reduced gap to the pursuing Stoner. In the latter stages there were thrilling battles further back as Crutchlow battled past Hayden into sixth, and Power Electronics Aspar pair Aleix Espargaró and Randy de Puniet were fairing to fairing until the finish line.

In the end it was Lorenzo who held his nerve to cross the finish line first to take the top step of the podium and extend his championship lead, ahead of Stoner and Pedrosa who complete the rostrum. Fourth went to Álvaro Bautista, ahead of Ben Spies, and Cal Crutchlow, who put in a brave ride with his injury. The top ten were completed Hayden, Bradl, Rossi and Barberá. Top CRT spot once again went to Espargaró ahead of his teammate in 11th, while Dovizioso remounted after his crash to finish 19th.

The race was declared dry from the start and it was Tech 3 Racing’s Bradley Smith who got the holeshot along with Marc VDS Racing Team’s Redding. They made it a British one-two in the opening two laps as they were tussling for top spot. With 16 laps to go, the following group of Espargaró, Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone and Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez made their move on Smith, who looked to be struggling, and tucked in behind leader Redding.

Meanwhile it was drama early on for JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco, who crashed out and finished his race prematurely. With 14 laps left, a group of seven riders were pulling away from the pack also including Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi and Italtrans Racing Team’s Claudio Corti. Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi was heading the group fighting for eighth.

Two laps later it appeared as Redding and Espargaró were pulling out a slight advantage at the front, as Iannone and Márquez were involved in an exciting fight for the final podium spot. Yet just one lap later Espargaró pounced on Redding to take the lead, after which Iannone took advantage to slip into second. The Brit was then left to contend with Márquez all over his rear wheel, with Corsi having caught up as well.

Espargaró’s teammate Axel Pons crashed out with 10 laps to go, putting an end to a disappointing weekend for the Spaniard. A lap later Márquez got into Redding’s slipstream to pass the Brit further down into fourth and hunt down the leaders. However it was Espargaró who started to put the hammer down and pulled out a small gap at the front.

With Márquez not wanting his Spanish rival to get away, he overtook Iannone with seven laps left, with Redding also pushing past the Italian. A lap later Márquez looked to be slowing, which Redding took advantage of to go into second, as Corsi move past Iannone. This lasted for only two laps as Iannone retook his compatriot down the home straight. Meanwhile, the tussle for second was spicing up between Redding and Márquez as the two swapped positions frequently in the final laps. On the last lap it was an almighty fight to the line with Redding just edging out the Spaniard, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Yet in the end it was Espargaró who took the chequered flag for his second win this season, with Redding and Márquez occupying the final podium spots. They were followed by Andrea Iannone, Simone Corsi, Claudio Corti, Bradley Smith, Tom Lüthi, Technomag-CIP’s Dominique Aegerter and Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio.

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