Darryn Binder has won his maiden Grand Prix at Montmelo on his 93rd attempt.

Darryn Binder finally claimed top-spot in the Moto3 championship aboard his CIP Machine. The South African had been in contention throughout the whole race distance after qualifying in ninth spot.

The race began with Poleman Tony Arbolino holding the lead and taking the holeshot. Raul Fernandez dropped to sixth after a bogged start. As we reached the halfway point on lap one, Binder had made his way through the field to end the opening lap in fourth.

Championship leader Albert Arenas made a good start from the second row to take the lead going into the third lap, John McPhee had once again made a good start from a lower grid position making his way up into the lead battle.

Eventually, the championship rivals came to blows at turn four early on in the race with John McPhee attempting a move up the inside of Albert Arenas, folding the front end and collecting Arenas, the Spaniard ran over to McPhee, very angry about his race being halted through no fault of his own.

This left the road clear for Darryn Binder to take the lead, the South African led most laps aboard his KTM, using his late braking style to hold off riders such as Dennis Foggia and a hard-charging Arbolino.

With the Championship contenders out, this allowed a huge points-swing for Arbolino as he crossed the line second, scoring his first points in Barcelona, but a win still proved unreachable for the Rivacold Snipers rider. However, the Italian is now within 20 points of Arenas who was demoted to second in the title race after Ai Ogura crossed the line 11th, securing enough points to promote himself to first in the standings after a DNF by Arenas.

In the late stage of the race, Binder appeared to lose touch with the lead pace of Foggia at the time, the South African fell to sixth. It was nothing to worry about for the eventual race-winner, as he began his ascension in the final four laps, using his advantage at the long turn three heading into four, checking up Jaume Masia at turn four before setting off at the lead pack. Masia had been at the front in a Leopard one-two before the attack from Binder saw him run wide.

The two factory KTM riders struggled in the race after being the pace-setters across Friday and Saturday. Kaito Toba suffered a long lap penalty with Fernandez only managing 13th position at the line.

Jeremy Alcoba had looked to be on course to continue his pace from Misano but was handed a long lap penalty in the late stages of the race. He soon had it doubled for not completing it in a sufficient time window. The Gresini rider then went down the loop and wide, narrowly avoiding the gravel-trap at turn one. He was eventually handed a six-second penalty instead, dropping him to 19th.

A surprise result came from Sterilgarda Max Racing Team’s Alonso Lopez who ended his race in fifth ahead of team-mate Romano Fenati who benefitted from Celestino Vietti and Jaume Masia tripping over each other and being demoted a position on the last-lap for exceeding track limits at the uphill right-hander of turn 9.

The CIP rider, Binder had been in contention all race, stringing his race together almost perfectly as he passed Foggia on the last lap at turn 4, Arbolino followed through, allowing the South African some breathing space. Arbolino tried to out-brake Binder at the tricky turn 10 hairpin to no avail, Binder’s late braking style allowing him to consolidate his lead as he crossed the line in the lead to take his maiden win on his 93rd attempt by a mere +0.103 of a second.

The Moto3 class will now enjoy a well-earned two week break, before engines rev once again for another triple-header, beginning in Le Mans, France on October 9-11th.

Full Moto3 results: