Points and heartbreak for GAVIOTA GASGAS Aspar Team’s Guevara and Garcia at the Aragon rollercoaster
A dramatic race at the super technical Motorland Aragón circuit in Spain brought mixed fortunes for GAVIOTA GASGAS Aspar Team riders Izan Guevara and Sergio Garcia; finishing 4th and 18th despite numerous fastest laps and race-leading on-track performances.
- Izan Guevara finishes 4th, and moves up to 10th in the championship after repeating his season best finish for the second time in as many races
- Sergio Garcia misses out on a podium finish after crashing out of 3rd position on Turn 12 on the final lap - eventually crossing the line in 18th
- GAVIOTA GASGAS Aspar Team hold station with 2nd in the Teams’ and 3rd in the Constructors’ World Championship Classifications
GAVIOTA GASGAS Aspar Team riders Izan Guevara and Sergio Garcia truly got on the gas this weekend; and despite not finishing on the podium, both riders proved why they are championship contending material.
A fortnight after recording his season-best finish, former Junior Moto3 World Champion Izan Guevara was fired-up and more than motivated as he arrived at the spectacular 5.1km Motorland Aragón circuit. In fact, the north-eastern Spanish venue has made for a favourable hunting ground for Guevara previously: it is where he won all three junior world championship races in quick succession last year.
The 17-year-old qualified in 13th position for the race but posted the fastest time during a shortened weather-affected warm-up on Sunday morning. As the lights went out, Izan rocketed away, battling up the order to seventh position by lap four. However, despite briefly tangling with rivals in the mid-pack and dropping down to 14th, Izan kept a cool head, and posted a fastest lap of 1:58.764, and then fought back to sixth place.
While lapping just 0.410 seconds off the race leader, Guevara maintained a consistent blistering pace to match the hot 33°C track conditions, and pushed to catch his teammate Sergio Garcia who was circulating in podium contention.
By lap 14 Guevara and Garcia were circulating in third and fourth respectively; teasing what could have been a potential GASGAS double podium. While Guevara managed to keep his head down and the throttle wide open to finish fourth - netting 13 points in the process - Garcia made a dramatic mistake on the final lap.
After 18 circulations of fast and aggressive racing, which saw Garcia on course for another 3rd place podium, the Spanish racer lost the front end of his GASGAS RC 250 GP machine, while pushing hard into Turn 12. It was a heartbreaking moment for Garcia, who had been on course to capitalise on championship rival Pedro Acosta’s crash earlier in the race. Sadly, a potential 16 points and fifth season podium were not to be. Garcia quickly dusted himself off and jumped back on his bike to finish 18th to and fight another day.
Guevara and Garcia won't have to wait long for the next opportunity for podiums and points, as the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini goes live at Misano next weekend on September 19. Stay tuned.
#28 - Izan Guevara: “I'm happy with the race; it was a big fight. From the beginning I felt a little like I was on the limit. Before the race I thought I had a good rhythm but it was a bit more tricky than I thought. We'll keep on pushing and I know, sooner rather than later, we'll make the podium."
#11 - Sergio Garcia: “A shame because today was the moment to regain some points. It was a fast and hectic race. The crash happened because I was going for it; I was braking a bit later than normal but not that much. We'll come back strong from this and will be determined for Misano. I knew Pedro Acosta had crashed. I had seen it on the big screens around the circuit. I wanted to go for the victory, as always. It's not my way to just settle for third place. I fought as I always do and will always do.”
Results - 2021 Moto3 World Championship, Round 13:
Dennis Foggia (Honda) 19 Laps; 2. Deniz Öncü (KTM) +0.041, Ayumu Sasaki (KTM) +0.644, 4. Izan Guevara (GASGAS), +0.708, 18. Sergio Garcia (GASGAS), +19.888
Championship Standings - After Round 13:
Pedro Acosta (KTM) 201pts; 2. Sergio Garcia (GASGAS) 155pts; 3. Dennis Foggia (Honda) 143pts; 10. Izan Guevara (GASGAS) 72pts