Moto3 France Le Mans Qualifying: Dennis Foggia achieves the first pole position of his career in the category

A always sunny Le Mans track welcomed the Moto3 category riders this morning for the last WE practice session before qualifying. At the end of a session marked by the spectacular fall of Deniz Öncü (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) and the two falls of Ivan Ortola (KTM, Team MTA, #48), it was Dennis Foggia (Honda , Leopard Racing, #7) who is in the lead before qualifying with a lap of 1'41.680. Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) is just behind in second place, ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda, Leopard Racing, #24).

Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7) and Izan Guevara exchanged first position in the final minutes of FP3 and although the Italian gained the upper hand over his competitor during his final lap of FP3, it was benchmark he set Friday that kept him atop the combined standings. Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) finished the morning six hundredths of a second behind Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7) and in the middle of a Leopard Racing sandwich, Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda, Leopard Racing, #24) thus being third.

In fourth place, we find Carlos Tatay (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #99), who made a brief appearance as FP3 leader. He is ahead of the Spaniard Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) for a few hundredths of a second. Xavier Artigas (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #43) is sixth in the combined with a very small margin in time ahead of the transalpine rider Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16), who validates his ticket for Q2, just like Daniel Holgado (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #96) and Ryusei Yamanaka (KTM, MT Helmets – MSI, #6). Left out of the top 14 at the end of an eventful Friday, Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) was in no hurry to find a solution and the championship leader only joined the qualifiers in Q2 in the last three minutes of the session, completing the top 10 of FP3.

The last places for Q2 were validated by Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71), his teammate John mcphee (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #17) and the rookies Joel Kelso (KTM, CIP-Green Power, #66) and Diogo Moreira (KTM, MT Helmets – MSI, #10) , leaving Ivan Ortola (KTM, Team MTA, #48) et Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) go through Q1. For his part, Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) is 26th and will also have to go through the repechage.

Who will be in pole position of this French Grand Prix ? 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	1'41.680 Dennis Foggia
FP3	1'54.228 Adrian Fernandez	1'41.710 Dennis Foggia
Q1	1'43.020 Tatsuki Suzuki	1'42.475 Deniz Öncü
Q2	1'47.407 Andrea Migno	1'41.621 Dennis Foggia
Warm Up	2'02.818 Andi Izdihar
Course	Garcia, Salac, Rossi
All time lap record	1'41.399 Jaume Masia 2020

At the start of the afternoon, the air temperature was 24°C and that of the track 29°C.

Places are expensive for Q2, because only 4 of the 16 drivers participating in this Q1 will qualify for this 2nd qualifying session, which will take place immediately afterwards. With ideal track conditions, the drivers join the 4.185 km Bugatti circuit as soon as the green flag is shown to them.

The first driver to shine during this Q1 is Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53), back after his impressive fall, in 1'42.710, in front Scott Ogden (Honda, VisionTrack Racing Team, #19), Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) and Riccardo rossi (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #54). The first 7 drivers in this Q1 are within 1 second, nothing is over yet!

From the 2nd round, Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) takes the lead in 1'42.559. The French driver seems boosted by the public, and his teammate Riccardo rossi (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #54) ranks second, only 84 thousandths behind the first. What follows is a return to the pits for the drivers, to change tires, adjust their bikes as best as possible to achieve a final time synonymous with passage to Q2.

Adrian Fernandez (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #31) and Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) are the first to set off for this last run of Q1, before all the drivers quickly join them. Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) and Riccardo rossi (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #54) wait one more lap in their pits, they will only benefit from one flying lap.

Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) did not seem affected by his fall during FP3 and took back the lead 1 minute from the end of the session, with a lap completed in 1'42.475. This time allows him to maintain the best position and move into Q2, accompanied by Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20), Matthew Bertelli (KTM, QJMotor Avintia Racing Team, #18) and Riccardo Rossi (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #54).

Now for Q2, the 4 fastest drivers from Q1 joining the other 14 fastest from the 3 practice sessions. Like Q1, the drivers set off as soon as the green flag is presented to them. The air temperature being higher than this morning, the chief engineer of Dennis Foggia thinks the drivers will be a little slower than in FP3, but that it will be a tough battle to be in pole position.

Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) and Joel Kelso (KTM, CIP-Green Power, #66) return to their pits without even having completed a timed lap. After the first timed lap, Deniz Öncü (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) took advantage of his extra quarter of an hour of riding and took provisional pole in 1'42.260, ahead of Diogo Moreira (KTM, MT Helmets – MSI, #10) and Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5). Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) is currently 8th, 1 second behind the Tech3 driver.

Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7) waits for the next lap to take control, in 1'41.719, ahead of his teammate Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, Leopard Racing, #24), and Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16). 6 minutes from the end of the session, the drivers classified from 7th to 18th position, as well as the leader Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7), return to the pits. There are 5 drivers left on the track, already well ranked, who have a different strategy and stay on the track for an extra lap to try to improve their times.

At the start of the last run, the first provisional line consists of Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7), Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, Leopard Racing, #24) and Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28). The drivers set off again for one to two timed laps, which will be crucial for places on the grid.

At the end of this qualifying session, Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7) improves his time to 1'41.621 and will start tomorrow in pole position, ahead Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda, Leopard Racing, #24) and Jaume Masià (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5). Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) will start 16th.

Ranking of the Q1 session of the French Moto3 Grand Prix on the Le Mans circuit: 

Ranking of the Q2 session of the French Moto3 Grand Prix on the Le Mans circuit: 

Credit Ranking: motogp.com