Sergio Garcia achieved his first victory in Moto2 as he controlled the proceedings at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas to defeat Joe Roberts in a thrilling finish.
Garcia held off Roberts in the final moments, while Fermin Aldeguer recovered from a poor start to secure his first podium finish of the season.
A mistake from Aron Canet and Aldeguer at the opening corner allowed Garcia to take the lead, and he never looked back from there.
Canet’s error caused him to drop back to 10th place, while Aldeguer fell to seventh, ruining his chances of winning.
Garcia seized the opportunity to take the lead ahead of local hero Roberts, with Dennis Foggia climbing up to third from seventh on the starting grid.
Jake Dixon, from the CFMoto Inde Aspar Team, started in 14th place but quickly moved up the ranks to finish fourth after the first lap.
Manuel Gonzalez, who was third in the championship before the race, jumped the start from ninth position and was penalized with a long-lap penalty twice.
On the third lap, Canet took advantage of a battle between Ai Ogura and Jeremy Alcoba to move past both and secure eighth place.
However, Darryn Binder’s attempt to score points from the back of the grid ended on the fourth lap.
Despite his strong start, Dixon lost control of his bike at Turn 1 on Lap 5, allowing Canet to gain another position in his pursuit of the front.
The top three riders, Garcia, Roberts, and Foggia, maintained their lead and pulled away from the rest of the field.
Teammates Aldeguer and Alonso Lopez closely followed, engaging in a battle for fourth place on laps six and seven.
The intense battle between the teammates included several overtakes at Turns 5, 6, 11, and 12, allowing Foggia to gain a few seconds advantage as the race reached its halfway point.
Aldeguer’s Beta Tools Speed Up ultimately won the duel, bringing him closer to his first podium finish of the season.
A crucial overtake on Foggia with five laps remaining secured Aldeguer a spot on the podium, and he took advantage of a mistake from Roberts to move ahead of his rival.
However, Roberts, from the American Racing Team, made an impressive recovery and reclaimed second place on the road.
In a final push, Roberts gave it his all to catch Garcia but fell short at the end.
Garcia’s victory now places him at the top of the championship standings, with him and Roberts finishing over three seconds ahead of Aldeguer in third.
Further back, Alonso Lopez had a quiet race, while Marcos Ramirez placed both America Racing bikes in the top five.
Although Foggia was in contention for a podium finish in the first half of the race, he struggled with grip in his tires in the closing stages and settled for sixth place.
A close battle unfolded between Ogura, Alcoba, and Canet further down the field, with Canet receiving a 0.396s penalty for running wide at Turn 6 and gaining an advantage.
Celstino Vietti completed his COTA race with another top-10 finish, adding to his successful season, while Tony Arbolinio finished half a second behind the Italian.
Despite starting in fourth place, Albert Arenas had a disappointing race and finished in 12th for the QJMotor Gresini team.
Miguel Gonzalez received a long-lap penalty for his jump start, forcing him to settle for 13th place, followed by Diogo Moreira and Filip Salac, who rounded off the point-scoring positions.