Press release
2MB
april 16, 2023 - Gasgas
Fernandez progresses to 16th after sweltering Saturday at USA MotoGP™
Bumps and beginnings for the second and critical day of action at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas as #gasgas Factory #racing Tech3 watched Augusto Fernandez grab 16th place in the Tissot Sprint. The COTA facility transformed from mixed conditions in Austin, Texas to blazing sunshine for round three of 2023 MotoGP but the Spaniard kept cool. The crew were back to two-man representation as #jonasfolger was able to take the RC16 to the flag in his first MotoGP spin since 2017.
- 16th for Augusto Fernandez as the Spaniard starts from 19th on the grid. #37 rounds the long, bumpy and technical COTA layout for the first time in the premier class
- Jonas Folger adjusts back to MotoGP competition and uses valuable track time as personal ‘data collection’ for his 2023 role as test rider for the brand. The German ranked 20th
- Ryusei Yamanaka 7th fastest in Moto3™ as #jakedixon makes the second row of the grid in Moto2™
Round three of 2023 MotoGP brought the world championship to COTA for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas. The 20-corner, drawn-out and challenging layout south of Austin was rippled and tricky to negotiate and complicated further by damp and then hot and sunny conditions. Augusto Fernandez not only had to gather his bearings around the course but also chip away to find crucial tenths for the best slots on the grid and then attempt the 10-lap Sprint rush on Saturday afternoon. The reigning Moto2 World Champ managed 10th in Q1 for 19th on the grid and then banked momentum, feeling and confidence during the Sprint. He crossed the finish line in 16th. #jonasfolger made his first MotoGP outing in six years and his first Grand Prix run in five as the German jetted into Texas to replace the injured Pol Espargaro. Now immersed in a testing role for the factory, Jonas worked on getting to grips with the red RC16 and finding his place in the relentless heat of MotoGP competition. He ranked 20th and continued to build with every lap. Lights out on the 20-lap Grand Prix happens at 21.00 CET on Sunday, 14.00 local time.
Augusto Fernandez, 19th in qualification, 16th in the Sprint: “It was a tough ten laps but we got experience and we used the Sprint as preparation for the race tomorrow. It has been a challenging weekend so far in terms of finding the feeling that I want on the bike. I’m missing something compared to the last races because this is a very hard track. I think we are making steps and I hope we can improve again tomorrow. I think our late race pace should be better.”
Jonas Folger, 22nd qualification, 20th in the Sprint: “The first race is done and it was very hard! The bike felt quite different in race conditions compared to practice and qualifying. We made a small change to the front suspension but with the hotter conditions it didn’t work out as we hoped. Overall, I expected more but we still need to work on small details, like the ergonomics. It is a process and it’s important we go through it. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and thanks to the team for all the hard work and support.”
Nicolas Goyon, #gasgas Factory #racing Tech3 Team Manager: “A solid race for Augusto who has been working hard to get in tune with the track. He’s had a few crashes and that’s prevented him from having a settled pace for the Sprint. He started quite far back but improved his lap-time, his overall pace and made some overtaking moves. It was a stronger performance and means we are quite positive for tomorrow. For Jonas he experienced his first Sprint and suffered a bit due to a lack of bike knowledge and track mileage. He is working more on getting comfortable, and we will make some adjustments for tomorrow to help him with that. We’ll go back to the pitbox, the computers, do our analysis and look for Sunday.”
Results Qualifying MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas 1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 2:01.8922. Alex Rins (ESP) Honda +0.1603. Luca Marini (ITA) Ducati +0.28919. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) #gasgas Factory #racing Tech3 2:03.798 (Q1)22. #jonasfolger (GER) #gasgas Factory #racing Tech3 2:07.597 (Q1)
Results MotoGP Sprint Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas 1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 20:35.2702. Alex Rins (ESP) Honda +2.5453. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +4.70616. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) #gasgas Factory #racing Tech3 +23.12820. #jonasfolger (GER) #gasgas Factory #racing Tech3 +46.973
Moto3 and Moto2
David Alonso lunged into his first Moto3 attempt at COTA with lap-times that placed him on the fringe of the top ten during Friday’s P1 and P2 sessions. #gasgas Aspar #racing teammate #ryuseiyamanaka was not far away from the teenager and gathered up his speed. It was the Japanese who pulled further forward and filled a decent 7th place on the grid as the flag waved on Q2 during Saturday. Alonso is on the eighth row in 22nd and with the target on maximum points through the 18 laps on Sunday morning.
Further information in the press release to download
Augusto Fernandez 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday
4623x3082, 3MB
Jonas Folger 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday
3333x5000, 2MB
Jonas Folger 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday
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David Alonso & Ryusei Yamanaka 2023 Moto3 USA
4450x2967, 6MB
Ryusei Yamanaka 2023 Moto3 USA
4463x2975, 4MB
Jake Dixon 2023 Moto2 USA
3125x2083, 2MB
Jake Dixon 2023 Moto2 USA (1)
5000x3333, 5MB
Jonas Folger 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday (1)
4999x3334, 2MB
Augusto Fernandez 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday (1)
3587x2391, 3MB
Augusto Fernandez 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday (2)
4356x2904, 4MB
Jonas Folger 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday (2)
4552x3035, 3MB
Jonas Folger 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday (3)
4827x3218, 6MB
Augusto Fernandez 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday (3)
3725x2483, 2MB
Jonas Folger 2023 GASGAS MotoGP USA Saturday (4)
5000x3333, 7MB
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