Foggia to Launch Victory Bid from the Front Row
Circuit Of The AmericasFresh from scoring back-to-back victories for the first time in his grand prix career, Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) continued his recent run of form by qualifying an excellent second for the Grand Prix of the Americas.
Foggia still believes he is very much in this year’s championship fight, even if he stands 42 points behind the series current leader. That belief stems from the fact the 20-year-old Italian has outscored his rival by 56 points in the last four races. Tomorrow should offer another excellent chance to claw back further ground, with Acosta starting from 15th.
It was an excellent afternoon for Honda riders with four of the top six in qualifying aboard NSF250RW machines, which work so well through COTA’S dizzying run of direction changes.
Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Team Gresini Moto3 Honda NSF250RW) claimed an excellent third, his first front-row start since the Austrian GP in August. The young Spaniard fell at Aragon three weeks ago but already seems to be back to his best.
There were further impressive performances on the second row. Xavi Artigas (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) set the fifth fastest time at a track he had never ridden before Friday morning’s FP1 session. This is the rookie’s best qualifying result so far, and his speed over the weekend suggests he could improve on his previous best result of seventh.
Tatsuki Suzuki (Sic58 Squadra Corse Honda NSF250RW) was sixth fastest, which is his seventh appearance in the qualifying top six this year. The 23-year-old from Chiba has endured a tough run of results of late, but knows he has the speed here after leading the first 12 laps of the Moto3 race at this track in 2019.
Both Yuki Kunii (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) and Andi Farid Izdihar (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) were frustrated in today’s crucial qualifying session. Kunii’s day was complicated by the fact he doesn’t feel comfortable in the fast changes of direction. Even so he just missed out on a place in Q2 by 0.2 seconds and will start tomorrow’s race from 24th. Izdihar, meanwhile, is still learning and understanding this long, complicated track layout in what is his first visit to Texas.
I’m pleased, we’ve done a good job and to start from the first row of the grid is going to be important. The main goal will be gathering as many points as possible for the Championship. Let’s enjoy the race!
I feel good on the bike and I’m having fun at this track despite the bumps… I got used to it in these few sessions. Yesterday we used all time available to understand this circuit and we knew today all was needed was a good slipstream: we managed to do so despite all the traffic on track and surely third is an excellent result. We’re struggling in the races lately: we’re quick in the more twisty part and less on the straight, but we have the pace to be with the leaders.
I finished Q1 just 0.2s off entering Q2, but I don't care about this. The reality is that I finished that session in tenth and tomorrow I will start from P24. I've struggled a lot in the fast turning points. My feeling has improved, but my lap time continues to be slow. It isn't easy to explain. About tomorrow's race, I'm sure it will be tough; the reality is that I'm still far from the top group. I need to check what's happening and what we can do to survive the race and continue to be positive and strong.
My impression is I feel I'm improving, especially understanding the circuit. For me, this track is special; the layout is nice, unique, despite the bumps. I like it, and I've improved a lot from the first day. The problem is that I didn't do a perfect lap; I've missed something every lap in one of the four sectors. The difference between my best lap and my ideal lap is too big,0,4s, and without slipstreams. That means I have a big space for improvement; I need to continue doing my best.
