After 20 races through every corner of the globe, the 2022 Valencia Grand Prix marked the end of an incredible season of racing, which witnessed GASGAS dominate Moto3 and finish the year with a 1-2 championship finish.
- Izan Guevara rounds out an incredible championship winning Moto3 term, with his seventh win of the year and fourth on Spanish soil, while Sergio García completes a GASGAS podium lockout in 3rd.
- Jake Dixon charges through the field in Moto2; recovering to 7th position after dropping back to 23rd and claiming a top-six championship spot. All while Albert Arenas also blasts to 5th place.
- GASGAS finishes a dominant year in Moto3 totaling 10 wins with 22 podiums, delivering the rider, constructor and team championship titles, while also enjoying 6 podiums in Moto2.
What began with nerves and hope in the heat of Qatar, finished up with record breaking wins and titles on home soil!
To say it has been an incredible rollercoaster of elite-level motorcycle Grand Prix racing is an understatement. 20 rounds and thousands and thousands of white-hot competition by GASGAS brought home not only a dominant 1-2 in the Moto3 riders championship with Izan Guevara and Sergio García at the bars of their rocket-like GASGAS RC 250 GP, but also a slew of points and titles.
By winning 10 races and featuring on the podium 22 times, GASGAS also sealed their place at the top of the Constructor and Team standings by some impressive margins. In the Team standings in particular, GASGAS Aspar Team trounced the nearest competition by 200 points.
To make matters sweeter, Izan Guevara delighted the home fans at Ricardo Tormo with a lights-to-flag victory at the 23-lap showdown. After locking in his fifth pole position of the year, Guevara stretched out the field from the front – towing a chasing Deniz Öncü with him. The pair streaked ahead, with only Sergio García managing to stay in touch by a handful of seconds. Lap by lap, Guevara held the lead in fine style, and after defending a last lunge Öncü, the 18-year-old from Majorca took his seventh win of the year. It also meant Guevara has also won all four Spanish races of the season.
Sergio García made it double delight by racing a stoic final Grand Prix in 3rd position. The 19-year-old from Burriana crossed the line with a 6.5 second deficit from the leading pair, to seal his 10th podium of the season – and also his final race in the class. Huge celebrations between both riders, a pit board emblazoned with Grazie Nano for García, and a gold race helmet for Guevara were the highlights of the final round of an incredible final Grand Prix.
In Moto2, celebrations were not quite as loud, but deserved nonetheless. Jake Dixon raced through a tricky weekend in Valencia. While the weather fluctuated from gusting winds through Friday, colder track temperatures on Saturday and then optimal conditions on Sunday, Dixon worked hard with the Inde GASGAS Aspar Moto2 Team to dial in his race machine. Starting from P15 Dixon initially struggled at the start, dropping to 23rd briefly. However with a blistering race pace in hand – which was faster than many of the riders ahead of him, Dixon fought back into the top-seven, finishing just 0.7 seconds from 6th placed Manuel Gonzales. What’s more, Dixon ended the season inside the top six in the championship on 168.5 points.
Teammate Albert Arenas delighted with a solid ride from P11 on the grid into 5th. The result gives Arenas his second-best finish of the year (having previously finished 4th at the San Marino Grand Prix earlier in September). Arenas also closes his 2022 Moto2 account in 12th position in the championship.
With a record-breaking season in the books, the celebrations can begin – before looking ahead to go FULL-GASGAS again in 2023!
#11 – Sergio García: “The feeling today is incredible – second in the world championship! I’m really happy with that! The race itself was really fast, and today I pushed as hard as I could, but I didn’t have any more to give. I’m happy for my family and all the people that come to support us. A big, big thank you to everyone, my team, and especially my Father who is always there.”
#28 – Izan Guevara: “It was an amazing feeling in the race. I think we had incredible pace alone at the front. I pushed really fast in the final laps, and it was incredible to battle to the finish. I want to say a big thanks to my team for their work throughout the whole season. I’ve now won all four races in Spain – as well as the championship – which is just an amazing way to finish my time in the Moto3 class. A perfect race today, and now I will just enjoy the time with my family and team! Thank you!”
#75 – Albert Arenas: “After a couple of weekends where we’ve worked hard we finally got a decent finish here today and it was special to race in front of family and friends. I’ve learnt so much this year – these years in fact with the Aspar Team – and we can look forward to a good dinner together tonight. I’m satisfied to finish the season in this way today; it leaves a good taste in the mouth.”
#96 – Jake Dixon: “Definitely not the race I was expecting. On the second lap I made a false neutral and went back to 23-24th and had to come back through. I reached 7th but had lost around 12 seconds. Without this I think we could have made the podium today. I did all I could do.”
Results – 2022 Moto3 World Championship, Round 20:
1. Izan Guevara (GASGAS) 23 Laps; 2. Deniz Öncü (KTM) +0.062, 3. Sergio García (GASGAS) +6.557
Moto3 Championship Standings – After Round 20:
1. Izan Guevara (GASGAS) 319pts, 2. Sergio García (GASGAS) 257pts, 3. Dennis Foggia (Honda) 246pts
Results – 2022 Moto2 World Championship, Round 20:
1. Pedro Acosta (Kalex) 25 Laps; 2. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) +1.232, 3. Tony Arbolino (Kalex) +10.163, 5. Albert Arenas (GASGAS / Kalex) +18.904, 7. Jake Dixon (GASGAS / Kalex) +21.244
Moto2 Championship Standings – After Round 20:
1. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) 271.5pts, 2. Ai Ogura (Kalex) 242pts, 3. Aron Canet (Kalex) 200pts, 6. Jake Dixon (GASGAS / Kalex) 168.5pts, 12. Albert Arenas (GASGAS / Kalex) 90pts