Leopard’s Dennis Foggia kicked off his defence of the Moto3 Italian Grand Prix with the fastest time on Friday.
Last year’s victor set the pace in the morning practice with a 1’56.916 which remained unbeaten by the close of play. Red Bull KTM’s Jaume Masia and Sterilgarda Husqvarna’s John McPhee completed the top three after the first day of action.
The lightweight class kicked off with a full set for the first time in 2022 as BOE rider David Muñoz was finally old enough to take to the track, with no replacement riders needed for the Italian GP. His teammate Ana Carrasco making history once again as she looks to line up for the most starts by a female rider in world championship racing this weekend. A solemn paddock paying tribute to Jason Dupasquier following the loss of the PruestelGP rider at the Tuscan track last season.
The home talent shone from the early stages as Rivacold Snipers’ Andrea Migno and returning Alberto Surra took charge in the opening times, fellow Italian Foggia sitting third on the Leopard machine before Sic58’s Riccardo Rossi set the first 1’59 of the morning. Surra bettered his teammate next time around as the pair returned the top with Ajo’s Masia joining the fight on his fourth attempt.
Five down and Foggia was back on form with 1’58 pace from Green Power’s Kaito Toba and Avintia’s Matteo Bertelle. Diogo Moreira continuing his impressive rookie run from fifth with Izan Guevara, Migno, Carlos Tatay and Surra completing the top ten after the opening quarter of an hour. McPhee began Max Racing’s special weekend from 13th with VisionTrack’s Scott Ogden and Josh Whatley sitting 20th and 26th respectively in the opening stages.
The last ten minutes found Foggia firmly at the top with a 1’58.417 pace ahead of the final runs. Teammate Tatsuki Suzuki the first on track and the first to better as the Japanese rider struck with a 1’58.2 solo effort before his second shot produced a 1’57.905.
Seven to go and the rest of the pack joined the party. Foggia and Rossi holding fast in the top three with Guevara rising to fourth from Migno, Bertelle and Toba. Sergio Garcia, Ryusei Yamanaka and Tatay completing the top ten before Guevara and Masia advanced to third and fourth.
A full shuffle at three to go saw McPhee take charge overall before Foggia struck back with the first 1’56 of the day. Sterilgarda teammate Ayumu Sasaki sitting third from Suzuki, Rossi and Guevara as Moreira arrived to fourth. Daniel Holdago held eighth on the second Red Bull KTM from Migno and Masia with Tatay and Garcia just adrift of the top ten.
Toba suffered a late fall as the chequered flag prepared. Mario Aji and Migno bettering in the closing stages to sit eight and ninth as Masia joined his teammate on the edge of the top ten.
A warm afternoon greeted the pack as FP2 got underway. Sasaki led the initial session times from Suzuki and Migno with pace two seconds adrift of the morning best. Bertelle crashing out at turn ten in the opening ten minutes.
Having bettered his session-topping time on his fifth revolution, a dramatic crash saw Sasaki highside into the path of Masia and Elia Bartolini at turn 12 with the Japanese rider moving but stretchered off after being collected by the KTM ride.
As the practice counted down, Guevara improved his pace to second with a 1’58.565 from the Leopard riders with Migno and McPhee running with and sixth respectively.
Toba suffered his second crash of the day at the final corner as the last ten minutes approached. Bertelle advancing the Avintia to second in the standings in the closing stages with still four-tenths to find to the fallen Sasaki and well over second to the outright target.
A final frenetic two minutes found Tech3’s Deniz Öncü up the pace, albeit still from second, with McPhee returning to fifth. Masia striking with a 1’57.134 to take the session and second overall with Suzuki and teammate Foggia rising to third and fourth. The gaggle behind shuffling the standings entirely as McPhee dropped to 12th, however his FP1 time still good enough for third in the combined times. Ogden claimed tenth in FP2 but was unlucky to miss out on the provisional Q2 positions overnight, by just 0.120 from 15th overall with a 1’58.405.
