Alex Marquez claimed his maiden Moto2 win in Sunday’s race at Jerez, scoring his first motorcycle grand prix racing victory since his championship-winning Moto3 season in 2014.

Marquez, who had topped all sessions in the run-up to the race, led the field from pole position, with championship leader and Marc VDS teammate Franco Morbidelli following behind in second place.

On Lap 7, Marquez ran wide at Turn 5, allowing Morbidelli to breeze past and take the lead of the race.

However, any hopes of a fourth successive victory for the Italian were dashed on the following lap when he crashed at Turn 9, giving the initiative back to Marquez.

With his main rival out of the race, Marquez cruised to the finish line.

Meanwhile, Moto3 graduate Francesco Bagnaia scored his first podium finish in the intermediate class, having risen from seventh to third by Lap 3.

Morbidelli’s retirement elevated Bagnaia into second place, with KTM rider Miguel Oliveira completing the podium spots after passing Mattia Pasini.

Pasini, a veteran of multiple 250cc wins, barely held off Forward Racing’s Luca Marini to finish in fourth place, the two riders separated by just 0.093s at the chequered flag.

Marcel Schrotter propelled his Suter bike to sixth ahead of front-row starter Dominique Aegerter, who gradually dropped down from third on the grid.

Thomas Luthi, who arrived in Jerez in second place in the standings, was unable to take advantage of Morbidelli’s retirement as he ended up a disappointed eighth.

Former premier-class rider Yonny Hernandez and Axel Pons completed the top 10.

Race Results:

Pos	Driver	Bike	Gap
1	Alex Marquez	Kalex
2	Francesco Bagnaia	Kalex	3.442
3	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	4.958
4	Mattia Pasini	Kalex	6.824
5	Luca Marini	Kalex	6.917
6	Marcel Schrötter	Suter	9.561
7	Dominique Aegerter	Suter	10.266
8	Thomas Luthi	Kalex	11.594
9	Yonny Hernandez	Kalex	19.212
10	Axel Pons	Kalex	19.293
11	Lorenzo Baldassarri	Kalex	19.672
12	Jorge Navarro	Kalex	24.487
13	Hafizh Syahrin	Kalex	25.522
14	Ricard Cardus	KTM	26.049
15	Tetsuta Nagashima	Kalex	26.089
16	Fabio Quartararo	Kalex	29.877
17	Edgar Pons	Kalex	33.799
18	Isaac Viñales	Kalex	35.196
19	Xavier Simeon	Kalex	40.950
20	Jesko Raffin	Kalex	43.165
21	Takaaki Nakagami	Kalex	43.282
22	Remy Gardner	Tech 3	47.675
23	Axel Bassani	Speed Up	48.478
24	Federico Fuligni	Suter	1'11.416
25	Stefano Manzi	Kalex	1'15.738
26	Andrea Locatelli	Kalex	1 lap
Ret	Sandro Cortese	Suter	9 laps
Ret	Xavi Vierge	Tech 3	9 laps
Ret	Khairul Idham Pawi	Kalex	12 laps
Ret	Iker Lecuona	Kalex	14 laps
Ret	Franco Morbidelli	Kalex	17 laps
Ret	Simone Corsi	Speed Up	23 laps