Moto3 France Le Mans FP1: Dennis Foggia gives Honda some color

Moto3 finds itself in France after a Spanish Grand Prix where Izan Guevara won for the second time in his career in the world championship with the Grand Prix of the Americas last year. It was his third podium in Moto3. To his victories must be added his second place at the Indonesian Grand Prix this year. It was GASGAS' seventh victory in Moto3.

Sergio Garcia had finished second for his fourth podium of the season with Qatar where he was second, and his victories in Argentina and Portugal. This is his 14th podium in Moto3, equaling By Giannantonio et Danny Kent. James Masia had finished third and it was the first time he had been on the podium after three successive Moto3 races.

With Guevara, Garcia et farmhouse, it was the first all-Spanish podium since Valencia last year. It was the 15th time since the introduction of Moto3 in 2012 that Spanish riders had reached the podium.

Matthew Bertelli had finished 11th as the best Italian. It was the first time there was no Italian in the top 10 of a Moto3 race since Valencia in 2013. With Scott Ogden in 12th position as top Honda rider, and matching his rookie season's best result in the Americas, it was the worst finish for Honda's top rider since Japan in 2013, when Sena Yamada was 23rd.

The 10 Moto3 races at Le Mans were won by 10 riders: Louis Rossi, Vinales, Miller, Romano Fenati, Brad Binder. Binder, Mir, Albert Arenas, John McPhee, Vietti and Garcia. Only two riders have won a Moto3 race from pole position at Le Mans: Viñales (2013) and McPhee (2019).

The presentations made, here is FP1 which opens the hostilities of this French Grand Prix, seventh round of the season. What will she have in store for us? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Moto3™ Le Mans	2021	2022
FP1	1'53.294 John McPhee	1'42.184 Dennis Foggia
FP2	1'42.150 Gabriel Rodrigo
FP3	1'54.228 Adrian Fernandez
Q1	1'43.020 Tatsuki Suzuki
Q2	1'47.407 Andrea Migno
Warm Up	2'02.818 Andi Izdihar
Course	Garcia, Salac, Rossi
All time lap record	1'41.399 Jaume Masia 2020

12° in the air and one more on a dry track illuminated by a radiant sun are the conditions offered to the pilots for the 40 minutes of exercise.

The Max Racing Team is complete, since John McPhee returns after a fractured vertebra and a long convalescence.

The same cannot be said for the Snipers team, which has yet to recover Alberto Surra. In its place is Jose Antonio Rueda.

Diogo Moreira is a singularity. The Brazilian rookie was a big protagonist last weekend in the Supermoto World Championship, winning the 2nd round in Alcarràs… It was he who signed the first reference in 1'45.127. But farmhouse accelerates to 1'45.013 after ten minutes of racing. Then Migno is the first to go below the 1'45 per lap mark with his 1'44.996.

farmhouse passes in 1'43.873 in front of the two Leopard drivers Suzuki et Foggia. It did not escape the boss of the last city that the Hondas were starting to suffer with the KTMs and brands derived from the Austrians: “we would really like to know, it’s hard to understand” reply: Miodrag Kotur at motogp.com. “Since returning from the United States, we have had two bad races. Incredible and very strange. In Jerez it was totally something else even compared to the tests…”.

Meanwhile, farmhouse brings the mark to 1'43.364 after the first quarter of an hour. Halfway through the session, the Ajo KTM rider leads in front Migno, Guevara, Tatay and this devil Moreira. Suzuki et Foggia lead the rest of the pack. The stage location Lorenzo Fellon is 23rd. The Tech3 driver Oncü is eighth. Adrian Fernandez his teammate is 19th.

The last quarter of an hour has begun and Migno takes the lead in 1'43.257. Foggia follows before moving in front in 1'43.193. Tuff, CIP driver falls at turn 8 as the last five minutes begin. The second pilot of the French structure which is Joel Kelso is recovering from his accident suffered during warm-up in Jerez: the boss Alain Bronec explains on motogp.com. “In Barcelona we didn't shoot much because he had pain in his adductors. This weekend we're going to take it one lap at a time, the race is going to be long... We're going to try to prepare as best we can. »

The rookies stand out: Moreira et Daniel Holgado are in the top ten, even the replacement Wheel is not bad.

Under the checkered flag, it's Foggia which ends the session in 1'42.184. Suzuki his teammate follows by more than two tenths, Migno, Guevara et Yamanaka complete the top 5. Lorenzo Fellon is 21th.

Results of FP1 of the French Moto3 Grand Prix at Le Mans:

MOTO3 LE MANS – FREE PRACTICE (1) RESULTS
POS	RIDER	NAT	TEAM	BIKE	TEAM
1	Dennis Foggia	ITA	Leopard Racing	(Honda)	1m 42.184s
2	Tatsuki suzuki	JPN	Leopard Racing	(Honda)	1m 42.461s
3	Andrea Migno	ITA	Rivacold Snipers Team	(Honda)	1m 42.473s
4	Izan Guevara	SPA	Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team	(GASGAS)	1m 42.489s
5	Ryusei Yamanaka	JPN	MT Helmets – MSI	(KTM)	1m 42.601s
6	James Masia	SPA	Red Bull KTM Garlic	(KTM)	1m 42.615s
7	Riccardo rossi	ITA	SIC58 Squadra Corse	(Honda)	1m 42.706s
8	Daniel Holgado	SPA	Red Bull KTM Garlic	(KTM)	1m 42.733s
9	Diogo Moreira	BRA	MT Helmets – MSI	(KTM)	1m 42.840s
10	Carlos Tatay	SPA	CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP	(CFMOTO)	1m 43.104s
11	Deniz Oncu	TUR	Red Bull KTM Tech3	(KTM)	1m 43.146s
12	Sergio Garcia	SPA	Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team	(GASGAS)	1m 43.166s
13	Jose Rueda	SPA	Rivacold Snipers Team	(Honda)	1m 43.308s
14	John mcphee	GBR	Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max	(Husqvarna)	1m 43.528s
15	Mario Aji	INA	Honda Team Asia	(Honda)	1m 43.605s
16	Xavier Artigas	SPA	CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP	(CFMOTO)	1m 43.648s
17	Ayumu Sasaki	JPN	Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max	(Husqvarna)	1m 43.680s
18	Adrian fernandez	SPA	Red Bull KTM Tech3	(KTM)	1m 43.731s
19	Ivan Ortola	SPA	Angeluss MTA Team	(KTM)	1m 43.840s
20	Stefano Nepa	ITA	Angeluss MTA Team	(KTM)	1m 43.842s
21	Lorenzo Fellon	FRA	SIC58 Squadra Corse	(Honda)	1m 43.843s
22	Gerard Riu Male	SPA	BOE SKX	(KTM)	1m 44.179s
23	Joel Kelso	AUS	CIP Green Power	(KTM)	1m 44.190s
24	Kaito Toba	JPN	CIP Green Power	(KTM)	1m 44.381s
25	Scott Ogden	GBR	VisionTrack Racing Team	(Honda)	1m 44.435s
26	Matthew Bertelli	ITA	QJMotor Avintia Racing Team	(KTM)	1m 44.594s
27	Elia Bartolini	ITA	QJMotor Avintia Racing Team	(KTM)	1m 44.617s
28	Ana Carrasco	SPA	BOE SKX	(KTM)	1m 45.020s
29	Taiyo Furusato	JPN	Honda Team Asia	(Honda)	1m 45.172s
30	Joshua Whatley	GBR	VisionTrack Racing Team	(Honda)	1m 46.096s

Classification credit: MotoGP.com