Tag: ThaiGP

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Moto2: Your Moto2 World Champion! Ai Ogura!

Image Credit: @MthelmetsMSi on X

After not finishing lower than 4th place in the last 5 races, Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) was not letting anyone else take the title away from him this season!

Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) did all he could and took a great win today but was unable to stop Ogura from taking the Moto2 crown! In a frantic battle stopped by the rain, Canet finished on the top step to Ogura in 2nd and Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team) in 3rd.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a great start from pole position for Ogura who lead the field through turn 1. The lead though was cut short as Canet late on the brakes, went up the inside of Ogura into turn 2. Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) dove far too deep up the inside of Canet at turn 4, and opened the door for Ogura to retake the lead of the race.

Turn 5 and Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) from nowhere wiped out Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), both riders ok as the crazy first lap continued. Into the last corner and Ogura went from 2nd to 7th as Ramirez went by into turn 12 as Moreira and Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) both barged their way by Ogura.

Moto2 looked like a Moto3 race as everyone across the field diced and fought for positions. Darryn Binder (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) went from 16th to 6th place after the 1st lap. Binder would later crash out of the race on lap 8 after such an heroic start.

Third race distance completed and Ogura barged Binder wide with 16 laps to go. Canet still lead at the front from Ramirez in 2nd with a 1 second gap to Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) in 3rd. Moreira and Dixon swapped places as Ogura patiently waited to pounce and pounced he did to get by Dixon up into 4th place.

Approaching half race distance, Ogura finally moved back into the podium places going by the Brazilian Moreira up into 3rd. At this point from the back of the grid to 11th, Jeremy Alcoba (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) was having a great race. Also, Dixon’s teammate and once Moto3 champion Izan Guevara was up into 5th.

With 10 laps to go, Ogura was world champion if it stayed as it was riding in 3rd place. Setting the fastest lap of the race, it was only a matter of time before Ogura went by and passed Ramirez into 2nd.

 

Into the final 3rd of the race and Canet was holding station at the front as Ogura continued to push to try and take victory in Buriram. Rain drops began to fall as local hero in the tiger livery Somkiat Chantra, was all over the back of Guevara fighting for 5th.

5 laps to go and Canet set his fastest lap of the race with Ramirez closing in on Ogura. Chantra overtook Guevara into the final corner as the crowd roared on the home hero. Chantra now up to 5th place and hunted down Moreira in 4th.

The rain flags waved to the inevitable red flag that followed. The race was stopped to the delight of the MT Helmets – MSI team. Canet was superb throughout the race but unable to stop Ogura’s surge to the title this season.

Ai Ogura, the first ever Asia Talent Cup rider world champion and a huge inspiration to all those young riders coming through in the Asia Talent Cup.

On a personal note, I was at Valencia in ’22 when it went down to the wire between Ogura and Augusto Fernandez a couple of seasons ago. Ogura crashed out in front of me on that Sunday and I watched his dreams shatter on that day.

To see Ogura come back in the fashion he has after the injuries he’s suffered is superb! I was buzzing to see him win this season in Barcelona and also in Misano. I wish Ai Ogura every success next season as he moves up to MotoGP.

Race Classification

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP

Championship Standings

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP
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Moto3: Alonso Wins Buriram Bananza

David Alonso (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) took his 4th win of the season today at the Thai Grand Prix in Buriram. Newly crowned rookie of the year David Alonso has been incredible this season. Especially at Silverstone earlier in the year, when Alonso won the race from the back of the grid. Alonso is definitely a name we will be hearing a lot of over the next few years in MotoGP. Today though, in typical Moto3 fashion, the race had everything. Total carnage, heartbreak and a tonne of overtakes.

Coming into the race weekend, 4pts was the gap at the top of the championship between Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing ) and Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP).  We have a week’s break now before the final triple header of the season. Masia now has a 17pts advantage to Sasaki in the championship. The championship top 5 including rookie sensation Alonso is covered by just 39pts. A DNF in any of the final 3 races could be disastrous for current championship leader Masia.

Image Credit: Aspar Team on X

AS IT HAPPENED

Despite a great launch off the line from pole position, Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) lost out to both Husqvarna riders shortly after turn 1. Both Sasaki and Collin Veijer went on the attack into turn 3. Masia with superb straight line speed on his Honda blasted by into 2nd up the long straight.

The top two in the championship Sasaki and Masia were leading the way, but it was short lived, as Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) got by both of them to take the lead of the race at the end of lap 1.

At the end of lap 1, Moreira led from Masia 2nd and Öncü in 3rd. Columbian rookie sensation Alonso was up 7 places at this point into 5th. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) was another rider who gained massively from lap 1, up 8 places into 8th.

Lap 2 and heartbreak for Crazy Boy Sasaki running into the back of David Munoz (BOE Motorsports). Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was also caught up in the crash and lucky to escape running into another bike or rider. Holgado managed to continue but dropped back to 27th place. Disaster for Sasaki’s title hopes here this weekend in Thailand.

Over the next few laps, we had a lead group of 8 riders and any of the 8 could claim victory at the Chang International Circuit. Holgado was also matching the pace of the leaders and making his way back through the pack.

A third of the race distance completed and Masia dropped from 1st to 4th on lap 6. Veijer led across the line from Moreira 2nd, Alonso 3rd and Masia in 4th. Holgado still determined as ever was now up to 16th place at this point.

 

Coming up to half race distance and it was still anybody’s guess as to who would take the victory. Holgado was +1.8seconds adrift to the leader and was in 13th place. No rider was able to pull away at this circuit, as any time gained was immediately lost on the straights with the nature of the slip stream. Moto3 pack racing was at it’s finest today.

Lap 11 of 19 and pole sitter Öncü was back at the front of the race, and trying all he could to pull away from the pack behind. Holgado moved up into the top 10, just +2seconds back of Öncü at the front.

Along the straight into turn 4, the slip stream completely changed the lead of the race. Öncü going from 1st to 5th. The positions at the front constantly changed. With 6 laps to go, Japanese teenager Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) took the lead of the race for the first time in his career. It was a rookie front three of Furusato, Veijer and Alonso.

As we headed into the last few laps, we had a lead group of 5 riders now slightly pulling away from the rest of the field. Around the final corner and with 3 laps left, Masia had a bit of wobble which opened up a gap to the 3 rookies at the front. However, the gap didn’t last long as the slip stream brought Masia and Öncü back to the leading 3 moments later.

THE LAST LAP

 

Veijer led the way and a group of 4 were in the battle for the win. As they headed down the long straight Masia and Alonso got by Veijer and after a scare Veijer dropped down to 4th.

The order changed until the riders took the chequered flag as Furusato got by Masia into 2nd place. In a desperate attempt to take the position back, Masia tried and failed to get passed Furusato at the final turn. The attempt also cost Masia a podium as Veijer snatched 3rd on the finish line.

What a win for David Alonso and the GASGAS Aspar Team! Alonso cemented his rookie of the year status today in some style. Moto3 at it’s very best and an incredible battle between them all.

Alonso now has the most wins of the season of anybody in Moto3. Alonso is still in the championship fight this season and in Moto3 anything can happen. A special mention to Holgado who finished in 6th place. To come back from way down in 27th in the manner in which he did was brilliant.

Race Classification 

Image Credit: MotoGP

Championship Standings

Image Credit: MotoGP

Feature Image Credit: Aspar Team on X

 

 

 

 

 

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Moto2: Aldeguer Shines in Thai GP

The championship was on the line for Pedro Acosta this weekend and it required him to be 75 points ahead of Tony Arbolino at the end of the weekend. Would the Spaniard be able to achieve this?

Arbolino would have a tough start as he was one of the front runners who had to go through the first qualifying session but was in the top four so made it through to qualifying two. Filip Salac, Sam Lowes, and Izan Guevara also made it through to the second part of qualifying.

Unfortunately, Salac crashed in Q2 so was unable to set a representative time, but the session ended with Fermin Aldeguer on pole, Acosta in second and Albert Arenas in third. Arbolino qualified in eighth place.

When the lights went out on Sunday, Aldegeur had a good start from pole position, but it looked as though there may have been a jump start from Aron Canet slightly further down the field. This was confirmed when he was given a double-long lap penalty from the stewards.

Marcos Ramirez had a great start from the second row and was riding around in third place at the start of the first lap.

Alberto Surra crashed on the first lap causing a yellow flag in sector three.

Aldeguer started to dominate from the front of the field by setting fastest lap after fastest lap and this was only hindered by yellow flags in sectors two, three and four on the third lap caused by Taiga Hada and Joe Roberts.

There was a crash involving Jake Dixon on the fifth lap where he and Celestino Vietti collided after their line merged. Dixon was still recovering from his dislocated shoulder but seemed to have escaped any further injury.

Vietti also crashed out on the same lap, but this was unrelated to the Dixon incident.

On lap eight, Sergio Garcia crashed out at turn five causing yellow flags in that sector.

Arbolino needed to finish as high as he could to ensure that the championship would continue on to the next round in Malaysia and he did that by first getting past Alonso Lopez. He was able to fight through the chasing pack to get to fourth place.

On lap sixteen, race leader Aldeguer made a mistake and Acosta closed the gap down but the Beta Tools SpeedUp rider was able to settle back down and began to extend the lead once again.

Arbolino would have been happy to see behind him that Ai Ogura was battling with Ramirez and Arenas which made him secure fourth place in this race.

Over the finish line, Aldeguer finished first by 3.481s from Acosta and local rider Somkiat Chantra in third place. As Arbolino finished in fourth place, Acosta’s lead in the championship was not over 75 points, meaning that the championship will be fought for at least one more round.

Feature Image Credit: Speed Up Team

THAILAND MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BURIRAM – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 20.880s
2 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 24.361s
3 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 30.674s
4 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 33.803s
5 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 35m 35.331s
6 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 35m 35.696s
7 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 35m 35.910s
8 Alonso Lopez SPA Beta Tools SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 35m 39.240s
9 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 35m 40.678s
10 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 35m 41.444s
11 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 35m 41.842s
12 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 45.078s
13 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 46.473s
14 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 35m 47.406s
15 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 35m 54.445s
16 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 35m 54.596s
17 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 35m 54.614s
18 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 35m 56.037s
19 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 35m 58.466s
20 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 36m 3.411s
21 Mattia Casadei ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 36m 16.432s
22 Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 36m 25.700s
23 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 36m 48.673s
  Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
  Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNF
  Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
  Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) DNF
  Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) DNF

 

 

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MotoGP: Martin Wins Breathtaking Race in Thailand

Jorge Martin has taken possibly the best win of his career, eventually coming out on top ahead of his nearest championship rider and one of the hardest racers on the grid. He celebrated like he had won the title, showing just how crucial this victory is for his championship campaign.

With the top three riders covered by less than 0.3 sections, we spent most of the race not knowing who was going to come out on top. Eventually, it was Jorge Martin who came out on top. He battled hard but it was a clean and mistake-free final lap that eventually gave him the win.

Brad Binder fought hard to cross the line in 2nd – however, he faced a post-race penalty for track limits that ultimately demoted him to 3rd. He left everything out on the track today and, in the latter stages of the race, looked like he could be on for his first win of the season.

Binder’s demotion handed 2nd place to our championship leader, Pecco Bagnaia. It wasn’t an easy race for the Italian, who started in 6th, dropped back to 7th and was forced to fight his way up through this field. It was a brilliant recovery rider that allowed him to keep the lead in the title fight, with the final 3 races of the season left.

 

Bagnaia now has just a 13 point lead over Martin, with his lead being cut by 14 points across this weekend. It is looking more likely than ever that this championship will continue to be fought until the final race of the season in Valencia.

Alex Marquez should have been on the podium but he crashed out on lap 14, whilst running 3rd. He was the only rider with a medium rear tire (everyone else ran a hard rear tire) which could have caused his mid-race mistake.

It was a positive day for Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez, who came home in 6th and 7th respectively – both riders seem to have found their groove again this weekend and laid down some brilliant moves that showed us why they are champions in their own right.

The top 10 was rounded out by Fabio Di Giannantonio in 9th, who is still desperately seeking a rider for 2024, and Johann Zarco in 10th, who had a difficult day after the highs of his maiden win last weekend.

Image Credit: MotoGP on X
MOMENTUM SHIFT?

Watching Jorge Martin’s celebrations during the cooldown lap and when he returned to parc ferme, you would be forgiven for thinking he had won the championship today. He ripped the windshield off his bike and his visor off his helmet as he celebrated. Instead, he just closed the gap to Pecco Bagnaia by 5 points. However, this race felt like so much more than 25 points.

After two difficult races, with a crash in Indonesia and a bad choice of tires in Australia, it was crucial for Martin to come back stronger than ever. He could have crumbled under the pressure and handed the control over to Bagnaia, but he seems to have come back stronger than ever. This was just the weekend he needed with a dominant sprint race win and today’s breathtaking performance.

Meanwhile, Bagnaia looked very subdued and quiet during the post-race celebrations today. He is still leading the championship fight but he certainly doesn’t look comfortable or confident ahead of the last 3 races of the year.

Regardless of who wins the title, this race is clearly a crucial moment in the championship battle and one we will likely look back on as pivotal in the fight.

 

BEST RACE OF THE SEASON?

Many people across social media and throughout the paddock have hailed this the best race of the season. Seeing the riders watching the key race action in the cool down room, before their podium celebrations, it’s clear that their reactions also matched this.

With just 0.25 seconds covering the top 3 riders as they met the chequered flag, this is the 4th closest podium in the premier class’ history. But this race was so much more than just the top 3 riders – there were battles up and down the field with aggressive, experienced and beautiful moves being made almost every lap.

At one point in the race, Pecco Bagnaia was stuck down in 7th place and seemed unable to make any moves of those ahead of him. To pull it back and salvage a 2nd place, that was almost a race win, shows how phenomenal his performance was. We also had the joy of seeing previous champions, Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez enjoying some exciting battles within the top 10.

For so many reasons, this race will clearly go down in history books, with action from start to finish and rider’s prowess shining through.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP on X

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MotoGP: Martin Takes Dominant Sprint Win in Thailand

Jorge Martin has enjoyed a strong Saturday at the Thai GP – he took pole in the morning and followed this up with a very dominant performance in the sprint race. He flew off the line, led every lap, and eventually crossed the line 0.9 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

After a difficult race in Phillip Island, Jorge Martin has quickly bounced back today at the Chang International Circuit to take his fifth consecutive sprint race win. It was a truly dominant ride after he flew off the line and quickly put clean air between him and the rest of the field. No one could come close to him as he enjoyed a 1+ second lead for the majority of the race.

Our championship leader, Pecco Bagnaia, had a much more difficult day – he arrived in Thailand with a 27 point lead in the championship. However, after coming home in 7th, this has dropped to just 18 points. With 136 points still up for grabs, the 2023 title could go to either rider!

Martin was joined on the podium by Brad Binder, in 2nd, and Luca Marini in 3rd. It was a strong race for both of them as they looked to have good pace and enjoyed a tussle for 2nd place.

Marc Marquez came home in 4th place, after an aggressive last lap fight with Aleix Espargaro. It was a final corner move from Marquez that forced Espargaro to have to settle for 5th.

Image Credit: MotoGP on X
AS IT HAPPENED

Despite rain being forecast for today, the sprint race took place under glorious sunshine. We started with Jorge Martin on pole and championship leader, Pecco Bagnaia starting in 6th.

As the lights went out, Luca Marini, who started in 2nd, did try to take the lead of the race. He pulled up alongside Martin off the line but Martin was clearly ahead by the first corner. By the end of the first lap, Martin was already leading by 0.6 seconds.

It was a very difficult start for Bagnaia who quickly dropped down the order. There was an aggressive early move from Johann Zarco to take 8th away from Bagnaia. A few corners later, Fabio Quartararo made a similar move and pushed Bagnaia down to 10th.

As everyone settled in to the race, we had Martin leading, with Marini in 2nd, Aleix Espargaro in 3rd, Brad Binder in 4th, Marc Marquez in 5th and Marco Bezzecchi in 6th. Just behind them were Alex Marquez, Zarco, Quartararo and Bagnaia who were all battling hard 7th.

On lap 2, Binder shoved his bike up the inside of Espargaro for 3rd. Marc Marquez made a similar move a few corners later and pushed Espargaro down further to 5th.

It was on this same lap that we had our first crash of the race, with Takaaki Nakagami going down at turn 12. He was able to rejoin the race but wasn’t able to make any moves up through the field.

On the following lap, at turn 15, Bezzecchi took 6th position back from Alex Marquez who had bested him on the lap before. This now left Marquez and Zarco battling hard for 7th. After losing a place to Zarco, Marquez came back past him, pushing his way up the inside at turn 12. This move sent both Marquez and Zarco wide, gifting a lucky 7th place to Bagnaia who flew past them both as they rejoined the racing line. This battle allows Marc Marquez, in 6th, to pull out a 1.5 second gap ahead.

Just ahead, on lap 5, Binder in 3rd was now hot on the tail of Marini in 2nd. Binder finally makes a move on the following lap but he goes wide and allows Marini to instantly come back through. It was lap 7 when Binder was finally able to take, and hold, 2nd place. He came through on the final corner in a very tight and aggressive move. All this battling has allowed Espargaro, behind them in 4th, to close the gap down to 0.2 seconds. However, ahead of them all, Martin was now leading by 1.6 seconds.

On the same lap, Augusto Fernandez became the first rider to retire. He went down at the final corner, turn 12, and was unable to rejoin the race. Then, on lap 10, Fabio Di Giannantonio faced a similar fate and was forced to head to the pits and retire the bike after a technical issue.

Meanwhile, on lap 5, Marquez takes 5th place away from Bezzecchi. A few laps later, the VR46 rider ten has Bagnaia all over the back of him too.

On the final lap of the race, and with Martin simply cruising to the line, the drama was still unfolding further down the field. At turn 3, Espargaro goes wide and lets Marquez through for 4th. As Espargaro attempts to regain the position, the pair bump into each other. Espargaro is only ahead for a short while as, on the final corner of the race, Marquez makes a stunning move up the inside to stead 4th as the pair cross the line – a fantastic photo finish!

Image Credit: MotoGP on X

Feature Image Credit: Prima Pramac on X

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Moto3: Öncü Takes Thai Pole Position

Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took his 3rd pole position of the season today at the Chang International Circuit. Öncü continued his great run of form, from the win last weekend in Phillip Island. 

The fight for the championship is extremely tight in Moto3. Championship leader Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) starts on row 3 tomorrow, in 7th. Title rival Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) had a great qualifying session and starts from the front row in 3rd. The top 2 in the championship separated by just 4pts coming into this weekend. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) splits Öncü and Sasaki on the front row and starts from 2nd on the grid.

 

Image Credit: Red Bull KTM Ajo on X

QUALIFYING 1


David Munoz (BOE Motorsports) and Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) were the surprise names taking part in the Q1 session. In hot muggy conditions, the riders filtered out onto the track to battle it out for a top 4 place.

Munoz set the first lap of the session and half way through, it seemed no rider was willing to set a time on their own. Sitting on the outside of turn’s 8 and 9, riding at a snails pace, everyone was waiting for someone to follow and get a tow. That someone.. was Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP).

Just under 7mins remained and a rain flag waved. Thailand’s weather never fails to throw something into the mix on a Grand Prix weekend. All of the riders needed to get a move on and post a fast time as Kelso led a sea of riders over the line to go quickest in the session.

Only a few minutes left and the top 4 going through at this point were Kelso, Munoz, Nepa and Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing).

Out of the pits for their final attempt at getting into Q2, there was no real sign of any rain on track, just dark clouds lurking in the distance. As the Thai wildcard for this weekend Krittapat Keankum (Yamaha Thailand Racing – BOE) crashed out, all of everyone’s laps were cancelled.

Subsequently, the top 4 remained unchanged. Kelso, Munoz, Nepa and Fernandez progressed to Q2.

QUALIFYING 2


Öncü led the way and was first to take to the track for the 15min battle for pole position. The first set of flying lap times registered and Moreira took provisional pole position with a 1:42.118. The time to beat was only a couple of tenths shy of the fastest time of the weekend so far.

Öncü returned to the pits after 2 spoiled laps in a row. 1 lap ruined by Moreira barging his way by on his provisional pole lap, and the other after Öncü running wide.

6mins left of the session and Sasaki set a time just +0.001 seconds slower than Moreira, who still held provisional pole at this point. Tactics were a plenty in this session, mostly to avoid traffic and towing round rivals. In the Red Bull KTM Ajo garage, teammate Jose Antonio Rueda was tasked with giving Öncü a tow to finally set a time in the session.

Öncü out of the pits and with a bit of help from Rueda went quickest, with 3 mins left of the session remaining.

Just as Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) was chasing pole position and red in sectors 1 and 2, both Furusato and Kelso went down at turn 8. Yellow flags then waved in sector 4, as Ryusei Yamanaka (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) crashed out at turn 12. All riders ok though and headed back to the pits.

The crashes late on stopped anyone trying to deny Öncü his third pole position of the season. If Öncü had some consistency with results this year, we could of seen him crowned Moto3 champion. Öncü is 37pts behind in the championship, and with just 100 left available, its going to take a miracle for the Turkish wonderkid to take Moto3 glory this year.

Starting Grid

 

Image Credit: MotoGP

Öncü on Qualifying

Image Credit: Red Bull KTM Ajo on X

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Foggia wins in Thailand with faultless performance

Dennis Foggia took a dominant win on the Thai GP making it his third in the past six races, leaving a glimmer of hope that his fight for the championship is still on.

While his championship rivals struggled in qualifying, with Izan Guevara 11th and Sergio Garcia further down in 20th, Foggia lined up on Sunday’s grid with clear track ahead on pole position.

The start couldn’t have gone any better for the Italian, holding his lead and having a clean getaway as Stefano Nepa moved his way up to second after a good start from fourth.

Meanwhile there was drama almost straight away as the first lap came to a close, when championship contender Garcia found himself on the ground after a collision with Adrian Fernandez.

There was a couple of other crashes as the race unfolded, Kaito Toba and John McPhee fell down in separate incidents which brought both of their races to an early close.

Back at the front it was still Foggia out in first as a group of six riders formed in the lead pack. This number slowly began to fall as Jaume Masia, Diogo Moreira and David Muñoz dropped back down the field.

Garcia’s day continued to get worse as he went a lap down at the beginning of lap 12, there was nothing he could do as he let rival Foggia by when the blue flags waved.

Garcia eventually retired to the pits shortly after the halfway point in the race, with the opportunity to score any points well and truly gone.

Credit: Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool

There was little standing in Foggia’s way as the race went on, leading quite comfortably throughout the entire race bar one slight mistake at the end of lap 13 which allowed Ayumu Sasaki into the lead, albeit very briefly as the Italian quickly moved back ahead two corners later.

With a few laps to go and with Foggia pulling away, Sasaki and Riccardo Rossi battled it out for second place which went on right until the final corner on the last lap as Rossi made a last effort move up the inside on his Japanese rival, but had to settle for third after running wide.

But out front there was no stopping Foggia, his win putting on stamp on what was a strong performance at Buriram, winning the race by over 1.5s from second placed Sasaki.

A tense fight for fourth place ended with Nepa taking the position at the line, ahead of championship leader Guevara who took a good haul of points despite a tough weekend.

Three rounds remain and there’s 49 points separating the top two in the championship, but anything can happen as Moto3 heads to Australia in less than two weeks’ time.

Image credit: Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool

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