David Alonso secured a stunning Silverstone Moto3 victory having started from 28th and almost last on the grid, while Jaume Masia crashed out.
The GasGas rider unleashed his full aggression right from the start of the encounter as he attempted to make as much progress as possible after having started from the back of the field, Alonso rising into the rostrum positions just three-laps into the contest.
From there he remained a constant part of the top five alongside series leader Daniel Holgado, Ayumu Sasaki as well as pole-man Masia.
Masia’s day was effectively ended though after the Leopard Racing rider dropped his Honda at Turn 4 while leading, gifting the leadership to Husqvarna’s Sasaki.
It was Holgado though that held sway at the front as the final tour began, though Alonso soon swept through past the Tech 3 racer at Luffield – with Sasaki then taking his turn to lead by diving through on entry to the fast Maggotts-Beckett’s esses.
The Japanese ace’s formidable straight line performance was not enough to save him from a determined Alonso though as he slipped through to re-gain the initiative at Stowe, the Colombian then doing enough to hold on and secure his first ever Moto3 success in emphatic style.
Sasaki once again had to settle for second – his third-runner-up spot in the past four races – just 0.152s behind Alonso, while Holgado did his series lead no harm at all after completing the rostrum positions.
Ivan Ortola grabbed fourth for the MTA Angeluss squad, while David Munoz staged an impressive comeback of his own to complete the top five from 27th on the grid.
Diogo Moreira ended up sixth for the MT Helmets – MSI operation, with David Salvador and Jose Antonio Rueda claiming seventh and eighth.
Colin Veijer survived a late scare in Beckett’s that saw him drop out of the top 15 to recover to ninth, while Romano Fenati brushed off a hairy moment at Copse to complete the top ten.
Deniz Oncu remained a part of the leading group for the bulk of the race but was eventually shuffled back to 11th, while Scott Ogden saw a strong qualifying run – where he managed second on the grid – go to waste after he stalled on the formation lap, the VisionTrack Honda ace missing out on points despite coming back through to 16th.
Masia managed to re-mount his machine to eventually take 18th, while a crash for Leopard team-mate Tatsuki Suzuki in the latter stages with Matteo Bertelle ultimately completed a dismal British outing for the outfit.
Holgado now holds a 22-point series lead of Sasaki, with Masia’s crash seeing him now fall to 32 adrift of the Spaniard ahead of next weekend’s Austrian GP.
Keyword: Alonso fends off Sasaki for maiden Moto3 win after starting 28th