Full gas for round four of Moto3™ at the legendary Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto as Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team riders Izan Guevara and Sergio Garcia race into the top 14; and secure valuable points in the battle for the 2021 Moto3 World Championship.
A return to racing at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto is always a sure-fire favourite for everyone in the Moto3 World Championship paddock. While the grandstands that surround the 4.4km circuit unfortunately remained without fans for the weekend, the homecoming of world championship competition to southern Spain signalled an exciting glimpse of getting back to business as usual as Moto3 goes bar-to-bar on European soil this season.
The Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team arrived at Jerez with high hopes; having battled to a series of solid points finishes at the three previous Grand Prix of the year in Qatar and Portugal. Not least Izan Guevara, who had recorded his first ever FIM CEV Junior World Championship win at Jerez last season.
The 16 year old from Palma de Mallorca was placed in 11th in the championship heading into the Jerez weekender; and after working hard on set-up issues during Friday and Saturday, started Sunday’s 22 lap race in 11th position. With track temperatures pushing 27°C the racing was white hot, and despite tyre degradation making the task in hand more difficult, Izan kept his cool and held track position, ultimately finishing 11th by the final flag.
Sergio Garcia gritted his way through a rollercoaster weekend. Aboard his GASGAS RC 250 GP bike, Garcia showed blistering pace during Saturday’s Q1 session, placing in 7th; and just 0.6 seconds off first place, and eventual race winner Pedro Acosta. A crash during Q2 on Saturday, saw Garcia pushed down to a 21st position grid slot for the start of Sunday’s race.
Ever the fighter however, the former Moto3 Grand Prix winner took the challenge in his stride, charging through the field to seventh position on lap 10. Unfortunately, during the second half of the race, tyre wear issues plagued his progress and dropped the 18 year old down to 13th by the final flag.
#11 - Sergio Garcia: “It was a super-complicated weekend. We improved our feeling a bit during the warm-up, but I still felt like we were missing something to get the pace we wanted. I was stuck in the mid-pack during all of the race and couldn’t really do more. I tried my best to keep my cool, and I was pushing 100% and on the limit all the time. Unfortunately today really wasn’t our race to be at the front, but we are now focused to work even harder for Le Mans in two weeks time.”
#28 - Izan Guevara: “This wasn't exactly the race we were hoping for today here at Jerez. We were in the fast group but the tyre dropped away just before the second half of the race and it meant we lost traction and positions. I was pushing as hard as I could, but a gap opened up of about two seconds to the rider in front, and I just couldn’t recover it. I don’t really have much more to say right now, but we’ll go for more in the next one in France!”
Jorge Martinez (GASGAS Solunion Aspar Team Manager): "The Moto3 race was quite different to what I expected here in Jerez; it was really fast at the beginning with some very quick times all across the field. In the end it was as tough as ever: contact, crashes and more. We had some problems with the rear tyres where the riders couldn’t get on the gas as much as they wanted. I hope we can sort this for the next race and fight for the victory, as this is where we should be!”
Results - 2021 Moto3 World Championship, Round 4:
1. Pedro Acosta (KTM) 22 laps; 2. Romano Fenati (Husqvarna) +0.417, 3. Jeremy Alcoba (Honda) +0.527, 11. Izan Guevara (GASGAS), +3.986… 13. Sergio Garcia (GASGAS) +5.191
Championship Standings - After Round 4:
1. Pedro Acosta (KTM) 95pts; 2. Niccolò Antonelli (KTM) 44; 3. Andrea Migno (Honda) 42; 9. Sergio Garcia (GASGAS) 24; 10. Izan Guevara (GASGAS) 24