Moto3: Foggia claims victory by 0.078s at the Dutch TT, Acosta in fourth

Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) claimed the last win before the summer break at the TT Circuit Assen. The Italian led for most of the race and managed his final lap to perfection to keep Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) and Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) behind him.

Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) recovered from the back of the grid after missing qualifying due to a crash and added valuable points to his tally in fourth.

The Spaniard continues to lead the title race with a 48 points advantage over Garcia while Foggia is now up to third, 72 points adrift of the top.

Fenati took the lead at the lights from second on the grid ahead of poleman Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3), Garcia and Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3). Fenati, knowing he would have to serve a double long-lap penalty in the race, had his head down from the get-go. Unwilling to let him break away, Garcia claimed second from Alcoba and the pair started to gap the field on the opening laps.

Foggia came through the pack after a poor start, reeling the breakaway duo back in, and claimed the lead going into Lap 3 as Fenati served his first long lap. Xavier Artigas (Leopard Racing) followed his teammate and made it a three-way shoot-out at the front between Garcia and the Leopard bikes in the early stages. Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Rodrigo and Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) were in hot pursuit and stayed firmly within punching distance.

Binder found his rhythm six laps into the race and started to seriously challenge his opponents in the front group. Both Fenati and Acosta, who had started from the back of the grid after missing qualifying, meanwhile had brilliant pace and worked their way up the order, dragging John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) with them towards the front group.

Foggia did most of the leading while the positions behind him kept swapping and changing in a top group of nine riders. However, Rodrigo and Artigas gradually dropped out of contention with seven laps remaining and the battle at the front was down to seven riders.

Alcoba’s front tucked through the final corner of Lap 17 and although the Spaniard somehow managed to stay on his bike and crucially within the top group, he had lost ground to the lead. A front quartet with Foggia, Fenati, Garcia and Binder had put a couple of bike lengths between themselves and their chasers, but as they vigorously exchanged punches, they allowed the rest of the group to close back in.

Foggia, however, had pulled the pin in the lead and gained just a few tenths of an advantage going into the penultimate lap. Garcia, with Fenati glued to his rear tyre, did not give up and desperately shadowed the Leopard machine. Acosta claimed fourth from Suzuki, but the front three were now too far away for a podium charge.

Foggia managed the last lap brilliantly to stay clear of Garcia who somehow kept Fenati behind him. Binder made up two positions through the final chicane to cross the line in fourth ahead of Acosta and Suzuki while McPhee came home in seventh, however, Binder would drop three positions post-race due to exceeding track limits.

Rodrigo was eighth narrowly ahead of Artigas while Alcoba had suffered heavily from mid-race onwards and took the flag in 10^th. Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) finished 11^th from Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) and Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) while Niccolò Antonelli (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) and Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) bagged the final points on offer in 14^th and 15^th respectively.