Guevara scorches to season best finish at British Grand Prix

A stunning performance from Izan Guevara, saw the Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team rider battle through from P11 to P4, narrowly missing out on a podium place by five-hundredths of a second - all during his first ever visit to Silverstone for the 2021 Monster Energy British Grand Prix

• Izan Guevara records an awesome 4th place, starting from P11, during his first ever Grand Prix at Silverstone
  
  
• Sergio Garcia endures an uncharacteristically difficult weekend with a crash during qualifying and a 16th place race finish
  
  
• Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team display their blistering speed at the British venue finishing in the points and holding station in second place (214 pts) in the World Championship Team Classification

The home of British Motorsport served up a nail-biting display on its racing return to the Grand Prix calendar and since a temporary hiatus in 2020. Arguably the standout performance of the 2021 Monster Energy British Grand Prix Moto3 was from Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team rider Izan Guevara.

Despite being a former Junior Moto3 Champion, and enjoying a slew of fastest laps on circuits around Europe, 17-year-old Guevara had never turned a wheel at the legendary track. This was seemingly inconsequential for Guevara however, who quickly got to grips with one of the longest and fastest circuits on the championship schedule.

Gradually building up his speed and style throughout Friday and Saturday, Guevara placed himself 11th on the grid for the race. Then, winding on the pace further from lights out on Sunday, the Spanish rider was on the attack.

Within four laps he had recorded the fastest lap of the race (2:11.347) and had hustled himself into the leading group of seven riders all battling for third place. After four further laps - on lap 9 - Izan managed to break away from a portion of the leading pack, circulating in fourth all while fighting a breathless battle between Dennis Foggia (3rd) and Darryn Binder (5th).

The chilly conditions on track - 16ºC - did nothing to cool the intensity in the closing laps. Guevara briefly managed to grab 3rd position from Foggia under braking into the Stowe corner, but unfortunately his rival snatched the position back under slipstream. Crossing the finish line Guevara was a mere five-hundredths of a second behind his rival; narrowly missing out on the final podium position. The result netted the Spanish rookie sensation and the Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team 13 points in the championship fight, moving Guevara up to 12th in the standings.

Racing is a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows; and while Guevara was fighting for the podium, championship title contender and fellow Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team rider Sergio Garcia weathered a weekend to forget.

Despite showing his trademark blistering pace; a crash during Saturday’s qualifying displaced Garcia down the order to P24 for Sunday’s main event. A lightning start and a series of stunning opening laps saw Garcia make up 12 positions in just two laps.

Having fought up to 6th by lap eight, unfortunately Garcia’s pace and grip levels began to drop off. Battling with championship rival Pedro Acosta - who was also circulating in the mid pack - Garcia slipped down to 16th position by the final flag. Despite not scoring points, Garcia still looks strong in the championship standings - holding station in second place on 155 points.

Next up however is the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragón in Spain on September 12th - very much a home turf race for Garcia - and Guevara and the GASGAS Aspar Team - so expect fireworks and potentially podiums on race day.

#28 - Izan Guevara: “Well, I have to say I’m pretty happy. We worked well as a team this weekend and it’s been a few races now where I haven’t been able to give them a result we deserve. I was close to the podium today but just couldn’t make it. It was a good fight with Dennis and I’m pleased we got another fastest lap. It means we’re there and we’re competitive. we’ll look forward to Aragon now.”

#11 - Sergio Garcia: “We tried as hard as we could, but things didn’t turn out as we expected today. I didn’t have confidence in the bike to push harder. It’s something we’ll have to look at. I was having a good battle with Pedro but things got a bit complicated in the penultimate turn and we have to accept that today we didn’t get any points. We have to think about MotorLand now and hope we can be fighting at the front again.

Results - 2021 Moto3 FIM World Championship, Round 12:
Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) 17 laps; 2. Niccolò Antonelli (KTM) +1.679, 3. Dennis Foggia (Honda) +2.107, 4. Izan Guevara (GASGAS), +2.154, 16. Sergio Garcia (GASGAS) +22.444

Championship Standings - After Round 12:
Pedro Acosta (KTM) 201pts; 2. Sergio Garcia (GASGAS) 155pts; 3. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) 132pts; 12. Izan Guevara (GASGAS) 59pts