‘The Rocket’ puts himself back into Moto3™ title contention but Guevara has his first match point now
Dennis Foggia has given himself a glimmer of hope in the Moto3™ title race with an impressive ride to victory at the OR Thailand Grand Prix. The Leopard Racing rider qualified on pole position and led for all but one of the 22 laps around the Chang International Circuit, taking the chequered flag ahead of Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) and Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse). Foggia is now up to second in the World Championship, 49 points behind Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team), who worked hard for the 11 points which he earned by finishing fifth. His teammate Sergio Garcia, however, scored a dreaded ‘zero’ after he was collected on the opening lap and is now 56 points behind in the standings.
Early misfortune for Garcia
Foggia converted pole into the initial lead, while Sasaki had clawed his way back to second position by the end of the opening lap after being as low as fifth. Further back, Garcia’s rotten weekend got even worse. After qualifying only 20th, he was caught up in high drama at Turn 12, going down when he was hit by a highsiding Adrian Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Tech3). Fernandez himself also struck Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), who managed to stay upright, in an incident which will be reviewed post-race.
Up the front, Foggia continued to lead as a battle pack emerged just behind. Sasaki was getting plenty of attention from the likes of Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team), David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports), and Rossi, but every time he lost a position or two, he quickly reclaimed second place. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) was also part of the lead bunch until he pulled off with an apparent technical problem on while running seventh on Lap 8.
An almost perfect race for Foggia
That left a group of six headed by Foggia, from Sasaki, Muñoz, Nepa, Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI), and Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), while Guevara had worked his way up from 11th on the grid to be at the head of the second bunch of riders in seventh position, although he had a fight on his hands to stay there. Foggia ceded the lead for the first time when he ran well wide through Turn 12 at the end of Lap 13, but got it back almost immediately when he overtook Sasaki on the long, open…