Guido Pini superstar: Austin triumph ends Italy's Moto3 drought

Guido Pini shines in the Moto3 World Championship with a historic victory in Austin. Has Italy finally found its standard-bearer? 

"The talk about Italy not winning for so long was pounding in my head."Guido Pini is well aware of what he pulled off: since the 2022 Thailand GP with Dennis Foggia, our country hadn’t had an Italian on the top step of the Moto3 World Championship podium. The smallest class has been struggling for a long time, not just since yesterday, which makes the result by the young Tuscan from Leopard Racing even more valuable. Also because, after years on KTM machinery, switching to Honda is a radical change—but it seems to be paying off. Let’s not underestimate the fact that Pini even had a fever on Saturday! But it was all worth it for his first big joy in the World Championship after last year’s first podium. 

"From the moment I got on track I felt a different kind of feeling, in fact we approached the weekend in an incredible way," Guido Pini told Sky Sport at the end of the Austin GP. As mentioned, this is only the third round of 2026, and indeed his third on a Honda after years with KTM. A return to the past that helps? Let’s remember his historic European Talent Cup title in 2022 (now Moto4 European Cup), a Honda one-make series... "We always worked with the race in mind and we saw the results. We won too! I hadn’t stood on the top step of the podium since 2024." That was a season full of injuries, yet on his debut in Moto3 JuniorGP he made his mark with sensational wins. Two big years for Guido Pini personally, but Italy in Moto3 had been dry for twice as long: as we said at the start, the last Italian triumph in the World Championship dated back a full four years, since Dennis Foggia prevailed at Buriram. 

Back to the Americas GP, he wasn’t sure he’d win—but in general, you never are: as always in Moto3, this time too it was a pitched battle against the fierce Spaniards. He managed, however, to exploit one of his strengths and a few situations. "In the first sector I was super fast, in the second and third they were taking two tenths off me," Pini admitted. It was tough, but a small mistake by Maximo Quiles allowed him to close back in: from there he started to believe again, the big strike might be possible, and in the end came his first stunning world triumph. The first of many? Guido Pini has long been seen as a tricolour hope; he struggled when stepping up to the World Championship, but now the hope is that he has “figured out how it’s done” and that this is just one of many significant results to come. The Italian movement needs it!