GasGas to enter MotoGP in 2023
On 19 August, on the eve of the Cryptodata Austrian Motorcycle Grand Prix, it was announced that the Tech3 KTM Factory Racing satellite squad in MotoGP will be rebranded as the ‘GasGas Factory Racing Team’ for 2023, with the new-look outfit also confirming one of their riders for the coming season.
The 2023 season will mark GasGas’s first appearance in the premier class, following the dirt bike brand’s debut in Moto3 in 2021 and Moto2 last year. These moves have followed KTM’s purchase of GasGas in 2019, which saw the Spanish trials and dirt bike specialist reborn with a new range of KTM-based motocross and enduro models, as well as trials and supermotard bikes.
GasGas have recently added an adventure bike to their range, but has never had a road bike in their 35+ year history. Nor have they had any presence in road racing until the recent Moto3 and Moto2 entries, which are both managed by Jorge Martinez’s Aspar Team.
Whether the arrival of the MotoGP team will see GasGas’s presence in the junior classes come to an end had not been confirmed at time of writing.
The announcement of GasGas’s imminent addition to the MotoGP grid was made by Pit Beirer, GasGas Motorsports Director, and Hubert Trunkenpolz, Member of the Executive Board of KTM and Chief Marketing Officer. Joining them was Tech3 Factory Racing Team Principal Herve Poncharal.
"GasGas is a winning brand,” said Beirer. “It has reached an incredible level of performance in disciplines like MXGP, Supercross, Enduro and Rally, where we have taken grands prix, main events, world titles and overall winners’ trophies.
“Thanks to our strong partner, the Aspar team in Moto3 and Moto2, we have been able to see the GasGas bikes right at the front of those categories. It would be great to see the same thing eventually in the hardest class of them all.
“I want to thank Herve [Poncharal] and the Tech3 factory racing team for keeping an open mind and really supporting this change to become the GasGas Factory Racing Team. We think it’s exciting and different."
Hubert Trunkenpolz added that, after Moto3 and Moto2 entries, going to MotoGP was a logical move: "After seeing what we could achieve in Moto3 and Moto2, the next question was whether we could take GasGas to MotoGP and we’re thrilled that we can make this step.
“It’s a new journey and I know the brand will stand out right away. Importantly, the team, the riders [and] the management will help GasGas make a splash in the premier class."
In terms of what this means for Tech3 Factory Racing, which was founded by Herve Poncharal in 1990 and has been in the premier class since 2001, the immediate future will see little change. The squad will run the same KTM RC16 motorcycles they’ve campaigned since 2019, albeit with a new look, and most Tech3 team personnel will presumably continue in their current roles, too.
"I’m really, really happy to be part of a European manufacturer and the European manufacturers all together are moving on,” Poncharal said. “We can see every single Sunday on the MotoGP podium that they are [there] more and more. To be a full factory GasGas team is a big source of pride.”
Aside from a new livery, the other main change confirmed at GasGas Factory Racing’s official unveiling was an all-new rider lineup. Neither Remy Gardner nor Raul Fernandez, both of whom made their MotoGP debuts with Tech3 KTM Factory Racing this year, appear to be part of GasGas’s 2023 plans.
Poncharal revealed that Pol Espargaro will be one of the team’s two riders, marking a reunification of sorts, as the younger Espargaro brother rode for Tech3 for his first three years in MotoGP, starting in 2014 when the satellite squad was still using Yamaha’s YZR-M1.
"We had a great few years together when we started,” Poncharal said. “Pol was a key player in the Pierer Mobility KTM MotoGP programme, and I’m delighted to announce he is back in the family. We can’t wait to start working with him, and I think he will be a perfect ambassador for the GasGas brand.
“I think this GasGas MotoGP project couldn’t start better than with Pol. So, this is fantastic news.”
Espargaro’s return to Tech3 will also see him reunited with KTM’s RC16 that he last rode as a member of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team in 2020.
The second rider for GasGas Factory Racing was not announced at the team’s unveiling, but as mentioned, the current Tech3 KTM Factory Racing riders have been ruled out. On 30 August, Raul Fernandez signed for the WithU Yamaha RNF satellite team, which will switch to Aprilia machinery for 2023. Remy Gardner has no seat locked in at time of writing, with conflicting information surrounding his dumping by the team.
While there are several options for the second seat at GasGas Factory Racing, the most likely contender is considered to be Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Augusto Fernandez. No relation to Raul Fernandez, Augusto Fernandez made his debut in 2017 and has spent all six seasons in Moto2.
His first race wins came in 2019 with Flexbox HP 40, but he went winless in 2020 and 2021 with EG 0,0 Marc VDS. The switch to Red Bull KTM Ajo, the same team with which Remy Gardner won the Moto2 World Championship last year, has turned the Spaniard’s fortunes around. As of this year’s San Marino round, the 24-year-old has notched up four race wins and two other podiums and was also leading the Moto2 championship.
