Moto3™ – Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) produces phenomenal ride for maiden Moto3™ win.

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Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) produced a superb ride at the Monster Energy Czech Republic Grand Prix to claim his maiden Moto3™ victory. The Italian led over half the race to eventually fend of Championship leader Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team) by two tenths, with second in the Championship Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) finishing an important third.

Launching well off the front row was Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and it was the Argentinian who grabbed the lightweight class holeshot with polesitter Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) slipping to P3, but the best start of all was from Arenas. Starting 7th, Arenas had a blinder and was leading the race at Turn 3 and as Rodrigo got out the seat through Turn 7, the riders behind had to sit up – this gave Arenas a substantial lead as the riders completed the opening lap in Brno.

However, Arenas’ eight-tenth advantage was cut within a lap and a half as the top 15 started to edge clear of 16th place Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) in the opening exchanges. But that gap was also soon diminished as the leading 27 riders were covered by just four seconds. On Lap 5, Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) had a scare on the exit of Turn 4 but the Japanese man stayed upright as the Moto3™ riders settled in for the long haul, with John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) making headway from P18 on the grid to get firmly in the leading group mix – the Championship protagonists were all in the hunt.

A rider who we expected – but haven’t seen as of yet in 2020 – to be at the front this year then took the baton. Foggia and Ogura had got the better of Arenas but with 12 laps to go, it was way to early to call anything and it was all bubbling up nicely at the Czech Adrenaline Factory – but the pace was dropping as tyre wear was quickly becoming a big factor. On Lap 7, the pack were over a second slower than Jaume Masia’s (Leopard Racing) early fastest lap of the race.

Things started to happen in the final 10 laps. Alonso Lopez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) highsided on the exit of Turn 3 on Lap 9, but then drama unfolded for one of the title favourites. The bumpy Turn 10 had looked a troublesome corner for Suzuki for the whole race and with nine laps remaining, the Japanese star was down. The front washed away from underneath him and Suzuki was out of the race, a catastrophe for his title credentials.

With seven laps to go, the top 10 riders were 2.5 clear of 11th place Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power). Foggia was still leading from compatriot Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team), with Masia and McPhee now ahead of Arenas in third and fourth. Just behind the leading five, ready to pounce at any moment, were Ogura, Fernandez, Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) – it was anyone’s to win with five to go.

Heading into the final three laps, Foggia was still holding onto the lead and was looking incredibly strong heading into the braking zones. Arbolino kept looking but couldn’t make anything stick, but then suddenly the latter was at the back of the leading group. Why? The Italian got a good old fairing bashing from Arenas at Turn 1, but he wasn’t out of the equation. Leopard’s Foggia and Masia were then 1-2 but at Turn 11, a disaster for Masia. The Spaniard slipped out of contention with just over two laps to go as Ogura then made his move up into P2 past Arenas as the last lap then started – Foggia led from Ogura and Arenas, Antonelli and McPhee in 4th and 5th.

Ogura then swept through at Turn 3 but Foggia held the outside line and got the cutback into Turn 4, with Arenas then getting a good run down the hill to grab second. Ogura was back up to second moments later though but Foggia was holding firm. Could Ogura make a move at Turn 11? Not quite, but then Arenas shocked the Japanese rider by slotting his KTM up the inside of Ogura at Turn 12. Ultimately, this cost Ogura a chance to get a good run up horsepower hill, with Foggia a good few bike lengths clear. The Italian rounded the final two corners without hassle from behind to take the chequered flag in P1, with Arenas holding on to snatch P2 from Ogura as the top two in the Championship went toe-to-toe on the last lap. What a ride from Arenas, who picks up 20 precious points despite riding with a badly bruised leg after his Andalucia GP crash.

Ogura’s third place was his third podium in four races in 2020 as the Japanese rider remains Arenas’ closest challenger in the overall standings. Antonelli’s P4 was his best ride of the season as the Italian moves himself onto the fringes of the top 10 in the Championship, with McPhee settling for P5. It was a stellar effort from the Scotsman who had to claw his way through the field from P18, the Petronas rider keeps third in the Championship but slips to 19 points adrift of Arenas.

Polesitter Fernandez was a couple of tenths off McPhee to finish sixth for the third race in a row, the Spaniard beats former Junior World Championship rival Alcoba as the duo battled it out in the lead group throughout. Similar to Fernandez, Alcoba has a knack of finishing in the position he did on Sunday in Brno – that’s the third time in four races that the reigning Junior World Champion has claimed P7. Fenati and compatriot Arbolino crossed the line with nothing to choose between them, but it was the latter who just nicked P8 from Fenati’s grasp. The latter still achieves his best result of the season and his first top 10 of 2020, with Stefano Nepa (Gaviota Aspar Team) getting the better of Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) to head the second gaggle of riders over the line in P10.

The Championship battles took another twist in Brno, with Arenas stamping more authority on the lightweight class 2020 title race – but it’s far from over. Coming up is a double-header at the Red Bull Ring and you can bet there’s going to be drama, with Ogura and McPhee eager to claw back the disadvantage.

Top 10:
1. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing)
2. Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team) + 0.205
3. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) + 0.251
4. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.381
5. John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.509
6. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.808
7. Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) + 0.889
8. Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) + 1.647
9. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 1.648
10. Stefano Nepa (Gaviota Aspar Team) + 8.815.

MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY

Moto3 Race Classification 2020.

Brno, Sunday, August 09, 2020

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	7	Dennis FOGGIA	ITA	Leopard Racing	Honda	149.2	39’06.370
2	20	75	Albert ARENAS	SPA	Gaviota Aspar Team	KTM	149.2	+0.205
3	16	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	149.1	+0.251
4	13	23	Niccolò ANTONELLI	ITA	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	149.1	+0.381
5	11	17	John MCPHEE	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	149.1	+0.509
6	10	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	149.1	+0.808
7	9	52	Jeremy ALCOBA	SPA	Kömmerling Gresini Moto3	Honda	149.1	+0.889
8	8	14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Rivacold Snipers Team	Honda	149.1	+1.647
9	7	55	Romano FENATI	ITA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	Husqvarna	149.1	+1.648
10	6	82	Stefano NEPA	ITA	Gaviota Aspar Team	KTM	148.6	+8.815
11	5	27	Kaito TOBA	JPN	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	148.6	+8.828
12	4	40	Darryn BINDER	RSA	CIP Green Power	KTM	148.6	+8.849
13	3	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	KTM	148.6	+8.866
14	2	16	Andrea MIGNO	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	KTM	148.6	+8.986
15	1	53	Deniz ÖNCÜ	TUR	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	148.6	+9.089
16		11	Sergio GARCIA	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	148.6	+9.124
17		6	Ryusei YAMANAKA	JPN	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	148.6	+9.589
18		99	Carlos TATAY	SPA	Reale Avintia Moto3	KTM	148.5	+9.723
19		2	Gabriel RODRIGO	ARG	Kömmerling Gresini Moto3	Honda	148.4	+12.594
20		71	Ayumu SASAKI	JPN	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	148.4	+12.656
21		70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	CarXpert PruestelGP	KTM	147.7	+23.720
22		89	Khairul Idham PAWI	MAL	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	147.7	+23.766
23		50	Jason DUPASQUIER	SWI	CarXpert PruestelGP	KTM	147.2	+31.955
24		9	Davide PIZZOLI	ITA	BOE Skull Rider Facile Energy	KTM	146.9	+36.734
25		12	Filip SALAC	CZE	Rivacold Snipers Team	Honda	146.2	+47.046
Not Classified
		5	Jaume MASIA	SPA	Leopard Racing	Honda	149.2	3 Laps
		92	Yuki KUNII	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	143.9	4 Laps
		24	Tatsuki SUZUKI	JPN	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	149.0	9 Laps
		21	Alonso LOPEZ	SPA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	Husqvarna	148.6	9 Laps
		73	Maximilian KOFLER	AUT	CIP Green Power	KTM	136.2	10 Laps
		54	Riccardo ROSSI	ITA	BOE Skull Rider Facile Energy	KTM	147.5	11 Laps

Moto3 World Standing 2020

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Albert ARENAS	KTM	SPA	70
2	Ai OGURA	Honda	JPN	52
3	John MCPHEE	Honda	GBR	51
4	Tatsuki SUZUKI	Honda	JPN	44
5	Raul FERNANDEZ	KTM	SPA	36
6	Dennis FOGGIA	Honda	ITA	32
7	Tony ARBOLINO	Honda	ITA	31
8	Celestino VIETTI	KTM	ITA	30
9	Gabriel RODRIGO	Honda	ARG	30
10	Jeremy ALCOBA	Honda	SPA	28
11	Niccolò ANTONELLI	Honda	ITA	21
12	Jaume MASIA	Honda	SPA	19
13	Darryn BINDER	KTM	RSA	17
14	Andrea MIGNO	KTM	ITA	15
15	Romano FENATI	Husqvarna	ITA	14
16	Sergio GARCIA	Honda	SPA	13
17	Stefano NEPA	KTM	ITA	12
18	Kaito TOBA	KTM	JPN	12
19	Filip SALAC	Honda	CZE	8
20	Ryusei YAMANAKA	Honda	JPN	7
21	Ayumu SASAKI	KTM	JPN	5
22	Deniz ÖNCÜ	KTM	TUR	5
23	Alonso LOPEZ	Husqvarna	SPA	5
24	Carlos TATAY	KTM	SPA	3
25	Yuki KUNII	Honda	JPN
26	Barry BALTUS	KTM	BEL
27	Maximilian KOFLER	KTM	AUT
28	Jason DUPASQUIER	KTM	SWI
29	Khairul Idham PAWI	Honda	MAL
30	Riccardo ROSSI	KTM	ITA
31	Davide PIZZOLI	KTM	ITA
32	Dirk GEIGER	KTM	GER

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

Moto3™ – Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) produces phenomenal ride for maiden Moto3™ win.

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al0i5947.small

25-raul-fernandez_dsc7303.small

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MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY

Moto3 World Standing 2020

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