Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) is the 2022 Moto3™ World Champion! The Majorcan took a stunning win in the Animoca Brands Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix to wrap up the crown, taking himself more than the requisite 50 points clear with two rounds remaining.
Guevara, born in Majorca in 2004, was already riding motorcycles by the age of three. His first international success came in the European Talent Cup in 2019, as the Spaniard took two top tens in his debut races before winning a stunning six races in a row to take the crown as a rookie. That would be his calling card as an achievement the following season, too.
Guevara raced in the Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup in 2020 and moved into what was then the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, now known as JuniorGP™. There, it was a similar story to the ETC the year before: a few solid results prefaced a first win, a second place and then a run of four victories in a row – three of which were taken from P22 on the grid at MotorLand Aragon. In Valencia, Guevara completed the stunning feat of taking the crown as a rookie, defeating Xavier Artigas and Pedro Acosta.
The Majorcan then moved up to the Moto3™ World Championship for 2021 and hit the ground running. The number 28 made an impression immediately, homing in on the podium at Silverstone and Aragon with fourth places. That first rookie win finally came in a chaotic Americas GP, with the GASGAS Aspar rider having shown serious speed all weekend.
2022, therefore, saw Guevara head into the season as a contender from the off. He started the season one place further back than his Grand Prix debut but was on the podium in Lombok – his first visit to the rostrum that wasn’t a win – and by Jerez he was back on the top step with a true stunner of a victory, going round the outside at the final corner. He wasn’t off the podium again before Silverstone, including wins in Catalunya and Germany, and back-to-back glory came again in Aragon and on his first visit to Mobility Resort Motegi.
By Phillip Island, Guevara’s advantage had grown to 49 points and the Majorcan made his first match point count. Under close attention from teammate and Championship rival Sergio Garcia, the number 28 took victory number six of the season, meaning his advantage at the top of the standings stretched out to an unassailable 65 points.
Congratulations Izan!