There was drama before the first race of the season even got underway, as poleman Izan Guevara was sent to the back of the grid along with championship favourite Dennis Foggia and his Leopard teammate Tatsuki Suzuki for irresponsible riding in qualifying.
They were all handed long lap penalties too, with Foggia forced to serve two during the race.
Aspar rider Guevara’s penalty promoted Ayumu Sasaki to pole for his first start for the Max Racing Husqvarna squad and the Japanese rider converted that to the holeshot.
Sasaki – formerly with the now defunct Petronas SRT on a Honda alongside current Max Racing teammate John McPhee – immediately built up a lead of almost a second by the second lap.
The Japanese rider, who was one of eight riders on the softer option rear Dunlop tyre, used the clean air in front of him and the squabbling of the group behind to pull away.
By lap eight of 18 Sasaki was 2.4s clear of the field and continued to open that advantage out to…
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