Honda Team Asia riders Taiyo Furusato and Tatchakorn Buasri faced the 4th round of the Moto3 World Championship at the Lusail International Circuit, Qatar. This event marked a special occasion for Furusato on one of his favorite circuits.
Buasri returned to action after missing the Americas GP, due to a knee injury.
The first day started well and both riders showed a solid rhythm. Furusato finished 8th, while Buasri 14th. The Thai rider went straight into Q2 for the first time in his career, becoming the 75th rider in the category to do so, and marking Thailand as the 20th country to achieve this milestone since the current qualifying format was introduced in 2019.
The qualifying day was harder: Furusato had a crash in the early laps of the morning final practice session and this limited his performance in Q2 where the Japanese rider wasn’t able to reach his full potential, ultimately securing the 12th position on the grid.
Buasri, still struggling with his knee pain, didn’t find a consistent pace (18th position on the grid).
The race was thrilling and exciting until the finish line and Furusato, 12th on the grid, delivered a brilliant performance. He secured second place in a dramatic photo-finish—missing out on victory by just 0.009 seconds.
After a strong start, Furusato quickly joined a chasing group and maintained a consistent pace to close the gap to the race leaders. In the final laps, he launched his attack—fighting at the front, leading at times, and positioning himself for the win. Despite crossing the final corner in first place, he was narrowly beaten to the line, taking the team’s first podium of the season with an impressive P2.
On the other side, Tatchakorn Buasri was still suffering and his performance was limited by the physical pain. He crossed the line in 19th place.
Next stop is Jerez de la Frontera, for the first European race!
MOTO3: TAIYO FURUSATO #72
Grid 12 – Race 2
I’m really happy with this result—my first podium of the season. The last few races have been difficult with some mistakes, so I really wanted to put everything together today. I gave my 100% from the start. We worked hard all weekend and had a good feeling from Friday. I did have a big high-side on Saturday morning, but the team did an incredible job fixing the bike and helping me recover in time.
The race itself was very clean. I pushed to the limit on every lap. We were so close—just 0.009 seconds! It’s a great step forward for me and for the team. Now we’ll celebrate a bit, then shift focus to the next race. We’ll keep building.
MOTO3: TATCHAKORN BUASRI #5
Grid 18 – Race 19
Today was a tough race for me, especially since I’m still not fully recovered from the crash in America. At the start, I felt calm and got through the first few corners well—I was around P14 or P12 early on. Then, during braking, someone tried to pass and hit my leg while I was using it for balance. That really disrupted my rhythm.
After that moment, things became very difficult. I dropped back and had to fight just to finish. I’m okay physically, but I know I need to improve. I’m really sorry for the result, but I won’t give up. I’ll keep pushing and learning for the future.
HIROSHI AOYAMA – Team Manager
It was quite an exciting race here in Qatar. The conditions were very windy today, so we expected a big group to form during the race. Both Taiyo Furusato and Tatchakorn Buasri started a bit further back on the grid, but they had strong starts and quickly gained positions.
Around mid-race, Tatcha began to drop back a little—I believe the pain in his knee started to increase, which made things tough for him. Still, he held on and managed to finish, which is important. As for Taiyo, he fought for victory right until the final meters—finishing just 0.009 seconds behind the winner. It’s a pity we missed out on the win, but he rode brilliantly. I want to thank the team for their hard work, and of course, our sponsors and supporters. We’ll continue working hard to carry this momentum into Jerez.
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