The final place on the 2023 MotoGP grid has been decided, with Augusto Fernandez joining GasGas for next season.
Augusto Fernandez will become the sixth different rider in three years at Tech 3 when he joins GasGas next season, which has been confirmed by a press release from the Spanish brand on the Friday of the 2022 Grand Prix of Aragon.
Fernandez, who is currently leading the 2022 Moto2 World Championship with Red Bull KTM Ajo by four points ahead of Ai Ogura, will join Pol Espargaro in the Tech 3 GasGas Factory Racing team for 2023, making an all-Spanish line-up with his compatriot for the Spanish brand’s first season of premier class Grand Prix racing.
Both 2022 Tech 3 riders, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, have endured tough respective seasons in the French team, and both will be moving on for 2023 - Fernandez to RNF Aprilia, and Gardner to GRT Yamaha in WorldSBK.
Augusto Fernandez will head to Tech 3 GasGas in the hopes that he can forge a better relationship with KTM, and get on better with what is currently a difficult bike, than the two rookies that currently occupy the Tech 3 seats.
“Wow, this is amazing: to be able to make the jump to MotoGP with GasGas,” Augusto Fernandez said in a GasGas press release. “I want to thank everyone in the racing structure around me for all their support since I signed with the Red Bull KTM Ajo team last year.
“I’m really happy. It’s a dream. We still have work to do in Moto2 and I want to go for the title and go to the MotoGP class – and this next challenge - in the best possible way.”
Hervé Poncharal, Tech 3 Team Principal, added: “I have been following Augusto for a few seasons now and we already discussed moving up to the higher class two years ago but he was not ready yet for the big jump. When we met again recently, it appeared very clear that he was prepared to come to MotoGP.
“I am excited about next season because our garage will have a mix of experience and youth through Pol and Augusto. They are both Spanish and will work in a positive and constructive way and this is what we have been looking for."
Director of Motorsports for the Pierer Mobility Group brands, including GasGas, Pit Beirer, said: “Augusto completes a special ‘all-Spanish’ flavour for the first year of the GASGAS story in MotoGP. He has worked great with Aki and his team, fought hard on the track and showed that he knows how to make the difference in a very close championship where we have seen quite a few different winners.
“We feel that he has done everything to earn his chance next to Pol in 2023 and to discover what MotoGP is all about. He is about to take the toughest step, where the competition is so strong, but we believe in him and he also believes in us and that’s the best reason to take a step forward.”
Fernandez will get his first taste of MotoGP later this year in the post-race test after the final race of the season in Valencia, by which time we will know if he has been successful in his Moto2 championship bid.
