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Moto2 championship leader Augusto Fernandez will ride for the GasGas Factory Racing Team in the 2023 MotoGP season, it has been confirmed.
KTM’s satellite team, Tech3, is being rebranded as the works squad of sister marque GasGas next year, and it is now official that Fernandez will share the garage with Pol Espargaro.
He takes over the seat which will be vacated by rookie Remy Gardner at season’s end after the Australian’s contract with KTM was not renewed, and attempts to keep Miguel Oliveira in the group did not bear fruit.
“Wow, this is amazing: to be able to make the jump to MotoGP with GasGas,” said Fernandez, who is currently domiciled at Red Bull KTM Ajo.
“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.”
The soon-to-be 25-year-old has four race wins to his name this year and seven in total in grand prix racing, all in the intermediate class.
With his promotion, and Espargaro returning to the KTM family after two years at Repsol Honda, it will be an all-Spanish rider line-up for Spanish brand GasGas’s first season in MotoGP.
“Augusto completes a special ‘all-Spanish’ flavour for the first year of the GasGas story in MotoGP,” said GasGas Motorsports Director, Pit Beirer.
“He has worked great with Aki [Ajo] 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.”
GasGas/Tech3 Team Principal Herve Poncharal remarked, “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.
“Welcome to MotoGP Augusto, keep calm and focus on your Moto2 championship.
“We will be waiting for you in our garage on Tuesday following the Valencia GP for your first MotoGP test.”
The Augusto Fernandez announcement means that all 22 full-time MotoGP seats have been locked in for 2023.
As for Tech3’s incumbents, Raul Fernandez (no relation) is off to the RNF Aprilia team while Gardner is switching to the Superbike World Championship to ride for the GRT Yamaha squad.
