Thailand Moto3: Victorious Foggia blasts away Buriram competition

Dennis Foggia lead the way to keep his slim title hopes alive in the Moto3 Thailand Grand Prix.

Updated: 06 Jan 2023

Dennis Foggia, Moto3 race, Thailand MotoGP, 2 October

Dennis Foggia got the result he needed to keep the title battle open with a win after leading from the front in the Moto3 Thailand Grand Prix, round seventeen of the championship.

Dennis Foggia started from pole, topped warm-up and translated that into victory in the Moto3 Thailand Grand Prix.

The Leopard rider controlled the race from the front after briefly being challenged for position at lights out. The Italian also managed what no other rider did - one of many to run wide out of the final corner the #7 was the only one to have the pace to take the position back (from Sasaki) and not lose contact with the riders in the group.

Foggia’s fourth win of the season on the Honda saw him lead over the line by 1.524s and keep his title dreams mathematically possible.

Ayumu Saskai kept him honest up front and took his third podium in a row for Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Racing after battling behind with Riccardo Rossi.

The SIC58 Squadra Corse rider was over the moon with his first podium finish of the season and kept his Japanaese rival on his toes all the way to the line.

Behind them Stefano Nepa worked his way to the front of the chasing group to snatch up fourth, a career best finish for the Angeluss MTA Team rider.

Damage limitation for championship leader Guevara

That group also featured Izan Guevara, after he rode the early part of the race with Tatsuki Suzuki to try and catch the group ahead, though the Japanese rider was forced to retire with a bike failure.

Run wide by David Munoz towards the end of the race in a highly competitve group all battling for fourth the Gaviota GasGas Aspar rider fought back for fifth, picking up valuable points for his title lead.

Rookie Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets - MSI) came through for sixth, ahead of rookie Diogo Andrea Migno in a battle to the line with the Rivacold Snipers rider.

Jaume Masia worked his way to the front for the three way battle for eighth, crossing the line on his Red Bull KTM Ajo just ahead of Munoz (BOE Motorsports) in ninth and Ryusei Yamanaka on the second MT Helmets entry completing the top ten and a strong day for the team.

Daniel Holgado kept the strong rookie performances coming in eleventh for Red Bull KTM Ajo. The Spaninsh rider was clear of the battle for twelfth, which was next to reach the line.

That was won by Joel Kelso for CIP Green Power, holding off Carlos Tatay in 13th for CFMotoRacing PruestelGP, His team-mate Xavie Artigas in 14th with Scott Ogden claiming the final point for VisionTrack Racing (his team-mate Joshua Whatley was a little further back in 23rd).

Lorenzo Fellon (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Dennis Oncu just missed out. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider had been as high as eighth, but missed out on a points finish for the first time this season after he struggled to stay within track limits as he managed his finger injury, leading to two long lap penalties .

Alberto Surra’s replacement at Snipers, Vincente Perez finished 19th.

Crashes and penalties

Adrian Fernandez got out of shape on the first lap and highsided in front of Sergio Garcia, effectively ending his title charge. The Aspar rider then flirted with another black flag penalty as he briefly slotted into the second group on track before being called in by his team.

Kaito Toba was also caught up in that moment along with Kelso. Toba later crashed out of his own accord.

John McPhee also slid out of contention.

Where does that leave the championship?

Izan Guevara still leads the way with 265 points. His 49 point advantage is now back to Dennis Foggia in second, on 216. Garcia picked up zero points so remains on 209.