Foggia Just 0.146 Seconds From Victory in Argentina
Termas de Río HondoFour Honda NSF250RW riders played a starring role in today’s thrilling Argentine Grand Prix Moto3 race, with three finishing inside the top five.
Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW), dominant winner of the Indonesian GP two weeks ago, took the lead for the first time at the end of the penultimate lap, but lost it to winner Sergio Garcia at the same place on the last lap. Nevertheless he immediately congratulated Garcia, showing great sportsmanship.
The 21-year-old Italian missed out on a second consecutive victory by just 0.146 seconds, after an impressive charge through the pack from the fourth row of the grid.
Foggia now stands second in the 2022 Moto3 World Championship, just four points behind the leader, with the Grand Prix of the Americas at Circuit of the Americas coming up next weekend. Last year Foggia finished the COTA race in a very close second position, so he’s confident of another strong performance as he chases a first world title.
Riccardo Rossi (Sic 58 Squadra Corse Honda NSF250RW) also rode a great race this afternoon, coming through to join the lead group of riders and finish fourth, only 0.132 seconds off a podium finish. The result was the 20-year-old Italian’s second-best Grand Prix result, after his third place in last year’s French GP.
Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) came through to fight for victory alongside team-mate Foggia and looked set for a top-three result in the final laps. However, the 24-year-old Japanese rider from Chiba lost out in the final corners and although he crossed the finish line in fourth he was relegated one place for exceeding track limits on the final lap.
The fourth Honda rider who had a real chance of glory today was Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team Honda NSF250RW). The 26-year-old Italian led the race at half-distance and was still in the fight for victory when he tangled with a rival on lap 15 of 21, both riders crashing out, without injury.
Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) made an excellent Grand Prix debut today after missing the first two races of his rookie World Championship season due an injury sustained during pre-season testing.
The 16-year-old from Kanoya finished the race in 17th, just two places outside the World Championship points-scoring positions, despite still suffering some pain from his foot injury.
Mario Suryo Aji (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) took the chequered flag in 21st, less than two seconds behind his team-mate. Two weeks ago the 18-year-old Indonesian rookie scored his first World Championship points with an impressive ride to 14th at his home race, so he already knows he has the potential.
That was an incredible race! It was so difficult to overtake in the first laps but finally we could get to the front. Finally it was a good race for me, so I’m happy but not super-happy because we missed the win by such a little bit. This is racing and 20 points is OK for today. Thanks to my team and my family – see you in America for a little bit more!
My lap times were better than qualifying. This fact is essential for me. But the top group was too fast for me at this moment. I need to get experience to be as fast as them, especially during the first laps of the race. The races in the World Championship are stronger than I expected, but in any case, I’m happy to be here and happy with the overall result of this weekend.
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A difficult weekend here in Argentina. But we got a lot of positive information that could help us in the future. The most important thing now is to maintain a constant progression, every practice, every race. We learned a lot. We need to solve some problems, but we only need time. I’m not worried about this. Just keep working to do the best next weekend in Austin.
