07 August 2022 – Silverstone Circuit – Great Britain

A crazy race in which our two drivers were protagonists from the beginning, fighting for a good part of the race for the leading positions. John crossed the line in seventh place, after starting from tenth position, while Ayumu unfortunately fell.

At the start, our British driver did not have a great momentum, so that after a few corners he found himself thirteenth. With great speed John recovered many positions, crossing in ninth postion the finish line of the first lap. Continuing his recovery, John during the fifth lap took the second position. The long straights of the Silverstone Circuit had the effect of keeping the whole group together, so much so that on lap nine the leading group consisted of twenty-one drivers. Obviously, this meant that there were many changes in front, even during the same lap. John started the last lap in seventh position and after a few corners he moved to fourth position, fighting hard for the podium. His race ended in seventh place and with the third fastest time of the race, exactly 2’11.178.

Ayumu was also very fast, in fact it is his fourth fastest time of the race, just one thousandth from his teammate. Our Japanese driver has always fought in the leading positions and in different situations he also led the race. A shame he made a mistake two laps from the end, when he was fighting for the podium. Unfortunately, Ayumu arrived long at the sixteen corner, hitting the wheel of S. Garcia that preceded him. Because of the impact, the two pilots both fell. While Garcia promptly got up, Ayumu stood still for a few moments, resting on his side. They were minutes of great apprehension, but then our British rider moved and was taken away with the stretcher. At the time of writing, Ayumu’s medical examinations showed no problems.

Because of this error Ayumu in Austria will have to serve two Long Lap Penalty. Really a shame, in fact today there were the conditions and the speed needed to make both our drivers hit the Top Ten. In the world ranking Ayumu slips to sixth place, while John earns the sixteenth.

Here are the words of John and Max Biaggi, our Team Owner.

JOHN MCPHEE : “To finish my home GP less than one second from the victory is not a bad result, but at the same time, I am a little bit disappointed, because I felt like I had the speed to fight for the podium. We did everything great and I think we were very very very close. I am happy with my speed, the bike and the work my team did. I was able to show my speed in many laps of the race and I was able to do some good overtaking.On this track with so many long straights, there were lots of riders with different speeds, so the race was 1 to 1.5 seconds more slowly than necessary. In the end it was a great battle. In the last corner of the last lap I was in P4, I closed the door to try and charge to P3, but I was set from one rider from behind, so that is the reason why I lost three places on the last corner. Anyway I gave my 100% and this was the best result possible today. We will continue with this speed. There are lots of tracks coming where there are not so many long straights. With the good feeling and the good setting we have with the bike and with the way I am riding, we will demonstrate our speed. We will look forward to some nice results coming.”

MAX BIAGGI – TEAM OWNER : “A rather bitter result today. We had the chance to do well with both drivers and unfortunately, we only got John’s seventh place. It must be said that the Moto3 races always leave you with bated breath. Super compact group and many overtaking are the routine. In addition, the characteristics of the circuit prevented the group from splitting up, so there were many errors. Ayumu made a mistake and unfortunately this will affect the next race, as in Austria he will have to serve two Long Lap Penalty.”

Results Monster Energy British Grand Prix 2022 – Race

1. Dennis FOGGIA (Honda) 37’30.120, 2. Jaume MASIA (KTM) + 0.252, 3. Deniz ÖNCÜ (KTM) + 0.297,
7. John MCPHEE (Husqvarna) + 0.932, NC. Ayumu SASAKI (Husqvarna) – Caduta al sedicesimo giro in curva 13. Pilota illeso.

World Championship Classification Moto3 2022 – After Race 12

1. Sergio GARCIA (GASGAS) 182 pts; 2. Izan GUEVARA (GASGAS) 179 pts; 3. Dennis FOGGIA (Honda) 140 pts;
6. Ayumu SASAKI (Husqvarna) 113 pts; 16. John MCPHEE (Husqvarna) 33 pts.