The next MotoGP season will have 10 Spanish riders on a grid with 22 bikes, a figure that equals the maximum registered in the category in 2017. Augusto Fernández, a 24-year-old talent from Madrid, will complete the line-up of the new GASGAS project in association with the Tech3 team and its mother factory, the Austrian KTM.
Interfering in a hard-fought battle for the Moto2 world title, the rider was caught by prying cameras in a last-minute photo shoot at one of the curves on the Alcañiz circuit.
Again, it was an open secret and, finally, today, the incorporation of him has been officially announced.
“It is incredible to be able to make the leap to MotoGP with GASGAS.
I want to thank all the members of the competition structure for all their support since I signed with the Red Bull KTM Ajo team last year.
I'm very happy.
It's a dream, but we still have work to do in Moto2″, explained the rider, who this Friday was the second fastest in practice for the Aragon GP.
Winner of four races, the leader of the intermediate category takes a giant step in his career in the same team that has crushed the trust of two enormous talents such as Raúl Fernández and Remy Gardner this year.
“Augusto completes a special 100% Spanish duo for the first year of GASGAS history in MotoGP.
He has worked very well with Aki and his team, he has fought a lot on the track and has shown that he knows how to make a difference in a very close championship”, commented Pit Beirer, the team's sports director, about the decision made.
"He is about to take the most difficult step, where the competition is very strong, but we believe in him and he also believes in us."
Fernández has not had, like many, an easy path to achieve his dream.
In 2018, his family told him that they could no longer support his sports career when he had a junior World Cup career left.
He had returned with the young talents despite having performed well in 2017 in his Moto2 debut.
Just after winning the Catalunya GP -when he was already packing his bags and had even looked at options to continue his studies- Sito Pons decided to do without Héctor Barbera after having given this positive in a breathalyzer test and he noticed him.
Thanks to this precipitous loss, the rider raised in Pina (Mallorca), had one last chance and consolidated himself on the grid with good results at the end of the season.
7 wins and 10 podiums later he gets the opportunity of a lifetime, although the KTM program has not been too kind to the young hopefuls of late.
First, yes, he wants to complete his great work this year with the title of world champion
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