Suzuki Scores Front-row Start, Foggia on Row Three
Circuit Ricardo TormoHonda’s great Moto3 star of 2021 Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) held pole position for a fleeting moment at the end of qualifying at Valencia today but was relegated to seventh in the final seconds of the session to start the last race of the tenth season of Moto3 from the third row.
Tatsuki Suzuki (Sic58 Squadra Corse Honda NSF250RW) was one of the riders who overcame Foggia at the end of the 15-minute outing, grabbing a superb second place on the grid.
Tomorrow the 24-year-old from Chiba will start from the front row for the sixth time this season and aim for his first podium of 2021. His best results so far this year are two fifth places at Assen and Silverstone. Suzuki changes teams in 2022, riding Honda NSF250RW machines for the Leopard Racing squad.
Two Honda riders will start the race from the second row – Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team Honda NSF250RW) from fourth and impressive rookie Lorenzo Fellon (Sic58 Squadra Corse Honda NSF250RW) from sixth.
Twenty-five-year-old Italian Migno will be going for his third podium in the last five races, while 17-year-old Frenchman Fellon will be aiming to score his first World Championship points.
Foggia has been Moto3’s strongest rider since June, taking four victories and four further podiums from the last ten races. His hopes of winning the 2021 Moto3 Riders World Championship were high, until he was knocked out of the last race by a rival.
Yuki Kunii (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) missed promotion from the Q1 qualifying session to Q2 by a fraction of a second, so the 18-year-old from Setagaya could do no better than 20th on the grid. Kunii has had a challenging time at recent races – tomorrow he will fight for his first points-score since August’s Styrian GP.
Andi Farid Izdihar (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) took no part in qualifying after crashing out of the third free practice session. The 23-year-old Indonesian had been feeling good in free practice and confident of a good race, however he sustained a fracture to his left hand, so he won’t race tomorrow.
It’s great to be on the front row again, so a big thanks to my team. This is a great way to say goodbye to them, after so many great seasons together. Tomorrow we will fight for my first podium of the year – we have had some bad luck at other races this year, so hopefully this time we will have some good luck!
This morning we missed a little bit of feeling at the rear. So we changed some settings, thinking about the qualifying. But the sensation was getting even worse. I couldn't go to Q2 but I'm happy because I did my lap time alone, without references. I will start from P20, which means I'll have many riders in front. I'll try to enjoy the last race of the season, fighting to catch the front group.
I had an excellent feeling during the weekend, being able to fight for the top 15 always. I'm very disappointed about the crash this morning because I was sure I had the option to do a good race. I'm unhappy, but I'll never give up.
