Fantastic Foggia Takes Second Consecutive Victory
Misano World Circuit Marco SimoncelliDennis Foggia (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) scored his second consecutive victory with a superb ride at Misano today, which moved him into second place in the 2021 Moto3 World Championship, with a real chance of attacking the points leader in the four remaining races.
Foggia moved into first place when the leader crashed out and for the rest of the race the 20-year-old Italian resisted immense pressure from the pursuing lead pack, which included fellow Italian Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team Honda NSF250RW), who finished a close third for his first podium since April’s Portuguese GP.
The fine handling of Honda’s NSF250RW was particularly important in this race, because Misano is so tight and twisty. At the finish Migno was just 0.817 seconds behind Foggia.
Foggia’s fourth victory of 2021 – following earlier successes at the Italian GP, the Dutch TT and last Sunday’s Aragon GP – puts him 42 points behind series leader Pedro Acosta, who could only manage seventh today.
Foggia has built amazing momentum during recent months and certainly has the mental strength and confidence to maintain the pressure on Acosta.
While Foggia had a clear track ahead of him for much of the race Migno had to fight for position at every corner, swapping places frequently. The 25-year-old Italian was promoted to second when Foggia took the lead, but finally lost the position two laps from the end. Nevertheless, like Foggia, he was delighted with his home-race podium.
Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing Honda NSF250RW) rode a typically spirited race, especially the first five laps, when he carved his way through from 14th on the grid to sixth place, battling with the group chasing the leader.
However, the 23-year-old South African finally ran out of grip and had to ease his pace and focus on holding onto sixth position, his best result since August’s Styrian GP, which he also finished in sixth.
Andi Farid Izdihar (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) didn’t have an easy race because he felt like his bike didn’t work the same way as it had in practice. The 23-year-old Indonesian was therefore unable to do better than 24th.
Yuki Kunii (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) did not take part in today’s race following an incident in yesterday’s FP3 session. The 18-year-old from Setagaya was involved in a collision with another rider, for which the FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) Stewards imposed a sanction of race disqualification.
Honda Team Asia appealed the decision, using data to back up its appeal, but was denied, so Kunii was not allowed to start. He will be back in action – along with the rest of the Moto3 grid – for the Grand Prix of the Americas on 3rd October.
I’m really happy to get my fourth victory of 2021 and my second consecutive win, so a big thanks to my team, to my family, to my sponsors, and especially my team who gave me the bike to win the race today. It’s beautiful to win here at home because now this is my second win at home this year, after Mugello. The last two laps were incredible because my dashboard told me the gap behind was quite small, but finally I could win.
It’s been a great weekend for us – we’ve had a good pace in every session and today also. I’m really happy with the work the team has done in the last months to achieve this result. And I’m so happy to get a podium at my home race – I gave it everything!
From yesterday to today, the feeling with the bike has changed completely. I couldn't explain it – it also happened in Aragon. I feel so embarrassed, and I don't know how to explain it. I'm sorry because everybody is working hard for me. Even I'm confused about what happened. The next race is America, and it will be my first time there. I will work on my mentality to be ready for this new chance.
I’m sorry about what happened this weekend, and I finally missed the race. Nothing more to say. Now it's time to look ahead and to start to prepare the America GP.
