Foggia Takes Thrilling Second To Extend Title Lead
Circuit Of The AmericasFellow Honda riders Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) and Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team Honda NSF250RW) played a starring role in today’s thrilling Moto3 race at the Circuit of the Americas.
The 21-year-old and 26-year-old Italians were in the lead battle pretty much throughout, despite Foggia slipping back to tenth in the early stages.
The contest was a typically all-action Moto3 show, with the lead pack numbering seven riders in the closing stages. The riders were so close that every move they made counted for a lot： if they attacked a rival but failed to make the move stick, that left the door open for another rival to make a pass on them.
Both Foggia and Migno looked more than capable of winning the race to continue Honda’s excellent start to the 2022 Moto3 World Championship. But both suffered with the chopping and changing of positions, especially Foggia who grabbed the lead for the first time with six laps remaining, only to find himself quickly shuttled towards the back of the group.
During the final lap Foggia tried once again to win the race but couldn’t quite make it past the leader, crossing the finish line just 0.172 seconds down.
Migno also tried his best to mount a final-lap attack but couldn’t make it happen and had to be content with finishing third, a further 0.222 seconds back.
Most importantly Foggia retains his lead in the Moto3 Riders World Championship, increasing his advantage to 16 points, while Honda continues to lead the Moto3 Constructors World Championship, which the company has won five times in the last seven years, also by 16 points.
Riccardo Rossi (Sic 58 Squadra Corse Honda NSF250RW) and Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) completed the top ten in ninth and tenth.
Teenage rookie Scott Ogden (Visiontrack Racing Team Honda NSF250RW) scored his best result yet with a 12th-place finish, less than two seconds outside the top ten
Eights
Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) started his Grand Prix career last weekend at Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina, after missing the first two races of 2022 through injury, and today came within one position of scoring his first World Championship points.
The 16-year-old from Kanoya completed the first lap in 24th and steadily moved forward during the 17 laps, thanks to his riding and other riders making mistakes, to finish less than three seconds outside the top 15.
Mario Suryo Aji (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) was disappointed with his ride to 21st, which followed a difficult Saturday, spoiled by a crash during qualifying. That error put the 18-year-old Indonesian rookie at the back of the grid, so today’s race was always going to be very difficult, especially with the windy conditions. Aji tried as hard as he could and will take what he learned this weekend to move forward next time out at Portimao.
The season-opening quartet of the Qatar, Indonesian, Argentine and Americas GPs is now completed, with the action now moving to Europe, starting with the Portuguese Grand Prix on April 24.
It was an incredible race at an amazing track and also a very difficult race. For me I found it impossible to brake like some of the other guys, so eventually my goal was to be in the front group and finish this American round at the top of the points classification. So I’m really happy. Thanks to my family, friends and team – see you in Portugal!
I enjoyed this race a lot, although I was a bit scared about not winning. But it’s OK – I fought to the end and I tried an overtake with two corners to go but I hit a big bump and had a big shake. I really enjoyed the battle with [winner Jaume] Masia, which was the best way for us to make peace after Argentina. I also enjoyed the group, it was a good fight, so this and finishing on the podium is the best way to continue the first part of the season.
For me the feeling was no good until today’s race, when I could keep some good lap times until the end, staying close to some of the best riders, so this is not so bad. I was quite close to scoring some points, but also a lot of riders in front of me crashed, so that was what got me close to the points, more than my riding. Anyway I hope to fight with the top group – I have some things to improve so I can improve my lap times, so I will do my best to do this for the next races.
-thumb.png)
That was a tough race but I take the positives from today, which was that after Friday and Saturday, this was the best I felt all weekend, with much more confidence in my bike. I felt great, even though I was losing time in acceleration and on the straights, so to keep with the riders in front I had to work very hard on the braking points and on the exits. It’s a shame because we had no luck in qualifying, so we started from the back, which made the race quite difficult. I now look forward to Portimao and Jerez, where I’m sure we can have a better weekend than we had here in Austin.
