Leopard Racing Explained

Short Name:Leopard Racing
Last Season:2024
Long Name:Leopard Racing
Base:Howald, Luxembourg
Principal:Miodrag Kotur
Motorcycle:Honda NSF250RW
Tyres:Pirelli
Teams Champ:Moto3:

Leopard Racing is a Luxembourg–Italian motorcycle racing team competing in the Moto3 World Championship. The team has won two Moto3 Teams' Championships.[1]

History

Leopard Racing was founded by Flavio Becca at the end of 2014 with the intention of participating in the Moto3 World Championship the following year. Thanks to the sponsor Leopard Natural Power Drink, they made their debut at the Qatar GP, and ended the season with the riders' title.Leopard Racing has three riders: Danny Kent, Efrén Vázquez and Hiroki Ono. Over the course of the season, the team captured 14 podiums: 9 times for Danny Kent and 5 times for Efrén Vázquez. In the Australian GP, the injured Hiroki Ono is replaced by Joan Mir. Danny Kent is world champion in the last race in Valencia.[2]

For the 2016 season, Leopard Racing also debuts in the Moto2 class with Danny Kent and Miguel Oliveira on Kalex bikes. Due to a collarbone injury sustained during qualifying for the Aragon GP, Oliveira was forced to miss 4 races. Italian rider Alessandro Nocco took Oliveira's place during the Grand Prix Australian and Malaysian GPs. Oliveira ended the season just one point away from winning the best rookie of the year.[3]

In Moto3 the team changed from the Honda NSF250R to the KTM RC250GP, the team's riders are Joan Mir, Italian Andrea Locatelli and Frenchman Fabio Quartararo. They managed to conquer 5 podiums in total with a victory obtained by Mir in the Austrian GP. At the end of the season Mir won the rookie of the year award with fifth place, Locatelli ended the season with ninth position, while Quartararo finished in thirteenth place in the overall classification.[4] In 2017, the team returned to competing only in the Moto3 category with Honda motorcycles, lining up at the start of the championship with Joan Mir and the Belgian rider Livio Loi, with the Spaniard becoming world champion during the Australian GP. In 2018 the two Honda NSF250R are entrusted to Italians Enea Bastianini and Lorenzo Dalla Porta who each win a Grand Prix allowing the team to place third in the standings. For 2019 the confirmed Dalla Porta is joined by Spaniard Marcos Ramírez after two seasons with KTM. Dalla Porta is the Moto3 champion and Leopard won the team classification with five victories in the season.[5] [6]

In the 2020 World Championship the two Honda NSF250Rs are entrusted to Italian Dennis Foggia and Spaniard Jaume Masiá who ended the season in sixth and tenth place in the standings respectively. The sum of their points allowed the team to excel in the team ranking.[7]

In 2021 Dennis Foggia is confirmed, and the rookie Xavier Artigas is hired alongside him. Despite a not making perfect start, the Roman rider managed to fight for the world title against the KTM of Pedro Acosta. But the fight ended prematurely during the Grand Prix of Algarve, where Foggia crashed due to contact caused by Honda rider Darryn Binder, which also involved Spanish rider Sergio Garcia. Following the fall of Foggia and the victory of Acosta, the Roman rider lost the chance of being able to fight for the title again. The season ended with the first career victory for Artigas at Valencia,[8] with Foggia vice-champion and third place in the team classification.[9]

Results

YearClassTeam nameMotorcycleNo.RidersRacesWinsPodiumsPolesF. lapsPointsPos.
2015Moto3Leopard RacingHonda NSF250RW7 Efrén Vázquez1805011558th
52 Danny Kent186953260 1st 
76 Hiroki Ono1700002921st
36 Joan Mir100000NC
2016Moto2Leopard RacingKalex Moto244 Miguel Oliveira1600003621st
52 Danny Kent1800003522nd
20 Alessandro Nocco200000NC
Moto3KTM RC250GP20 Fabio Quartararo1800008313th
36 Joan Mir1813121445th
55 Andrea Locatelli180202969th
2017Moto3Leopard RacingHonda NSF250RW11 Livio Loi1601008013th
36 Joan Mir18101313341 1st 
37 Aaron Polanco10000042nd
2018Moto3Leopard RacingHonda NSF250RW33 Enea Bastianini1816111774th
48 Lorenzo Dalla Porta1815021515th
96 Manuel Pagliani10000634th
2019Moto3Leopard RacingHonda NSF250RW42 Marcos Ramírez192421183 3rd 
48 Lorenzo Dalla Porta1941111279 1st 
Leopard Impala Junior Team4 Xavier Artigas101001626th
2020Moto3Leopard RacingHonda NSF250RW5 Jaume Masiá1523121406th
7 Dennis Foggia1513008910th
2021Moto3Leopard Racing
Leopard Impala Junior Team
Honda NSF250RW7 Dennis Foggia1851000216 2nd 
43 Xavier Artigas1611027215th
2022Moto3Leopard RacingHonda NSF250RW7 Dennis Foggia204842246 3rd 
24 Tatsuki Suzuki2003101307th
2023Moto3Leopard RacingHonda NSF250RW5 Jaume Masiá1841061274 1st 
24 Tatsuki Suzuki1211005019th
31 Adrián Fernández800002522nd
2024Moto3Leopard RacingHonda NSF250RW31 Adrián Fernández000000*
36000000*
Key
Regular rider
Wildcard rider
Notes* Season still in progress.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Leopard Racing Team Wins the Moto3 World Champion. 21 October 2019.
  2. Web site: Moto3 Valencia: Vince Oliveira, ma Kent è campione del mondo. Alessio Brunori. motogranprix.motorionline.com. Motorionline S.r.l.. 8 November 2015. it.
  3. Web site: Leopard Racing raddoppia: ecco il dream team per Moto2 e Moto3. Riccardo Piergentili. [tuttosport.com]. Nuova Editoriale Sportiva S.r.l.. 28 February 2016. it.
  4. Web site: Presentato il team Leopard Racing tra Moto2 e Moto3. Diana Tamantini. corsedimoto.com. 27 February 2016. it. CdM Editore.
  5. Web site: Moto3. Lorenzo Dalla Porta campione del mondo 2019: "Per mia nonna e mio papà". Giovanni Zamagni. moto.it. 27 October 2019. it. CRM S.r.l..
  6. Web site: Moto3 2019 – World Championship Classification. Redazione. Dorna Sports S.L.. 17 November 2019. en. pdf.
  7. Web site: Moto3 2020 – World Championship Classification. Redazione. Dorna Sports S.L.. pdf. 22 November 2020.
  8. Web site: Moto3 Valencia: Il primo trionfo di Xavi Artigas, contatto Foggia-Acosta. Diana Tamantini. [corsedimoto.com]. Editoriale l'Incontro. 14 November 2021. it.
  9. Web site: Moto3 2021 – World Championship Classification. resources.motogp.com. Dorna Sports S.L.. 14 November 2021. Redazione.