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Moto3, Foggia: "Moto2 is a guillotine, going back a choice of character"

INTERVIEW - "With Italtrans we didn't understand each other and with Suppo joining the team I was no longer comfortable. I had lost my smile, but I knew my value and Supersport I didn't even want to hear about it."

Moto3: Foggia:

One step back to make two steps forward: this is the spirit with which Dennis Foggia will return to compete in Moto3 in 2025, taking over from the newly-crowned World Champion David Alonso in the box of the CFMoto Aspar team. A great opportunity for the Roman rider to relaunch himself after two difficult seasons in Moto2 and to return to fight for that title that eluded him in 2021 and 2022, when he competed with the Honda of the Leopard team.

Dennis, 2025 seems like the year to settle the account you left open with Moto3.
"Absolutely (laughs, ed.). It won't be easy, but I know I can do it. I'm pumped up and I'm training every day. I'll stop just for the Christmas holidays, but then we'll get right back to work."

How was the first contact with the bike? Did you get the feeling you expected?
"Yes. Going back is different because I didn't remember certain automatisms, however after two or three laps I had my smile back right away. It was very cool and we also lapped very strong, for being the first time in two years, so I was very happy. The bike is definitely very different from the ones I had ridden before. It has some strong points and I will have to get used to it right away and be able to exploit them as soon as possible. With the telemetry and the data we have from Alonso it will definitely be a little easier."

How did the partnership with the Aspar team come about?
"Martinez called my manager because he needed a rider to win with right away, in the first year, and when he proposed my name he was immediately inclined. We signed within two and a half weeks."

Was there ever a time when you thought your stay in MotoGP was in jeopardy?
"I thought so, however, I knew my value: I knew I would not be left stranded, because I think it would be an injustice. It's also true that lately I've seen a lot of strong riders stay home, so this idea, honestly, a little bit came to me, but I didn't think about it at all."

Would you have ever considered making the opposite transition to Huertas?
"No, I would never have considered going to Supersport. I didn't even want to hear about it."

This, as we said, will be your big chance for redemption. How do you experience being forced to win?
"I'm sure I'll be able to do well. I am very excited about it, I have a lot of badassness and desire for redemption. So, I know I will give everything. With the pressure we live with it - I'm a racer, I'm always under pressure, and if it wasn't there it wouldn't be so special."

Do you think the fact that you have been in the fight for the World Championship before will help?
"There are so many strong riders and honestly I wouldn't know what to expect, but I don't give up in front of anything. Going back was also a character choice: I questioned myself with humility, taking one step back to take two steps forward. We'll see, but I'm looking forward to getting into action as early as the first tests in Portimao, which is a track I really like."

How does it feel for you to be back in Moto3, while Acosta, Aldeguer, Ogura and other riders you have raced against will be in MotoGP?
"Strange, however, everyone has their own path. Honestly, in these two years I absolutely could not express myself and fulfill my potential. Moto2 is often a guillotine for many riders, even Guevara saved himself at the last minute. So, I hope to be able to redeem myself and I will try my best, because I know my value and I know that the team is very strong and believes in me. I got on really well with them at first impact."

If you were to succeed in winning the title, would you try to go directly to MotoGP or would you try Moto2 again?
"Honestly, I don't know. It's not a transition that many riders have made, but if there was a chance to go directly to MotoGP, why not! I've done Moto2 before, so I know what a big bike is like. If an opportunity like that came my way, I would say yes."

Have you figured out what didn't work in the intermediate class and prevented you from expressing yourself like you did in Moto3?
"Honestly, I didn't get along very well. With the team members I got along very well. There is nothing to say about Italtrans, which is a great team and won a World Championship. But obviously we didn't understand each other, I couldn't express my potential, and it showed, because I did it only in short bursts."

In Austin, in fact, you seemed to have sorted out the problem.
"Yes, I hoped that was the case too, but in the end it wasn't. But Austin was a demonstration to myself that I could, and did, ride that bike, even if I didn't do it later. Did the planets not align the right way? Absolutely not, because in the end my manager was Livio Suppo, and when he joined the team there was a conflict of interest. Let's say that I didn 't feel as comfortable as I did the first year, when Giovanni Sandi was there, and that ultimately penalized me a little bit."

What did you learn from this two-year period?
"Moto2 is definitely a very difficult category. Everyone is very closely linked, so there you don't really have to leave anything to chance. Honestly though, there's not one thing in particular that I've learned and take with me, because it's been a really very strange experience."

Are you concerned about the possible repercussions of KTM's situation in Moto3?
"I don't know. Moto3 is a category where the bike already works well, then we are CFMoto, so on that side we are calm. More than anything it will be in MotoGP that the project will struggle a lot, so it will be very difficult for Bastianini, Vinales, Acosta and Binder. I, however, remain calm. We don't have any difficulties for the moment: the team is working and I can't wait to start, because I've got so much desire back and I'm training on the bike every day."

Did you also lose some motivation in recent years?
"Motivation no, I did not lose it, but I could not express myself and the team situation was very stressful mentally anyway, so I struggled a lot. I lost my smile, that I did."

 

Translated by Julian Thomas

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