Luca Marini has won the second Moto2 race of the 2020 season. The Italian dominated proceedings by 1.2s over Qatar race winner Tetsuta Nagashima and Jorge Martin.

From pole position, Jorge Martin took the early lead with rookie Aron Canet slotting into second early on. Sam Lowes had been beaten up slightly in the opening laps, dropping down to seventh in the early few laps.

At the front, Marini picked his way through the field to take the lead and controlled the race from there.

Canet slipped to fourth and was quickly under pressure from EG0,0 Marc VDS rider Sam Lowes who eventually took fourth from the Spaniard and set after pole-man Jorge Martin.

Lowes was gifted a few positions earlier in the race when Jorge Navarro came together with Bezzecchi on lap one, Bezzecchi later crashed at turn 9. Marcel Schrotter also came to grief early on while team-mate Tom Luthi crashed from the battle for 7th with a handful of laps remaining.

At the front, Nagashima, who had started the race from eighth started to close down the leading Italian. Still, the SKY Racing Team VR46 rider responded to the championship leaders threats, taking an eventual victory by 1.2s.

Tetsuta Nagashima came home in second place and retained his lead in the championship with team-mate Jorge Martin finishing third.

Sam Lowes had an impressive debut with the EG 0,0 Marc VDS team, claiming a front row start and a fourth-place finish ahead of rookie Aron Canet who stunned once again in fifth.

Team-mate Hafizh Syahrin was 6th ahead of Remy Gardner. Lorenzo Baldassarri leads a closely fought battle for eighth ahead of Enea Bastianini and PETRONAS rider Xavi Vierge.

Stefano Manzi missed out on the top ten with Hector Garzo and Augusto Fernandez in 12th and 13th.

A tricky weekend ended with points for Gresini’s Nicolo Bulega who finished 26.232s down from Marini.

Simone Corsi completed the top 15, claiming the final point.

Edgar Pons was 16th ahead of Qatar star Joe Roberts and Jake Dixon, who was awarded a double long lap penalty for jumping the start.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta finished 19th ahead of Izdihar, Raffin, Daniel and Marcos Ramirez, who crashed early in the race taking out Somkiat Chantra.

Moto2 Jerez Results

1. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46)
2. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +1.271
3. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +4.838
4. Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) +6.200
5. Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) +10.794
6. Hafizh Syahrin (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) +15.578
7. Remy Gardner (Onexox TKKR SAG Team) +17.426
8. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) +19.416
9. Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) +19.505
10. Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) +19.590
11. Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) +21.269
12. Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP 40) +21.405
13. Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) +24.550
14. Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) +26.232
15. Simone Corsi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) +27.303

Tetsuta Nagashima continues to lead the Moto2 World Championship with 45-points. The Moto2 World Championship returns next weekend for the second race at Jerez.