GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 formed part of a gripping SHARK Grand Prix de France for a massive and electric crowd wedged into the Le Mans circuit. Round five of the 2023 series was packed with drama through 27-laps and when the flag was waved Augusto Fernandez blasted past in a brilliant 4th position in just his fifth MotoGP outing.
Augusto Fernandez set the tone for a promising French Grand Prix with solid top ten pace in Practice on Friday and then automatic Q2 ranking for the quali run on Saturday. The rookie parked the GASGAS RC16 12th on the grid in just his fifth appearance in the class and aimed for more points and progress through the Grand Prix distance on a sunny Sunday.
The MotoGP field thundered into life at 14.00 and in front of a noisy and passionate crowd that filled all of the banks and seats around the famous old course and for the World Championship’s 1000th Grand Prix. AF37 was keen and fiery in the opening laps and slid into the top seven before incidents and accidents started to put fans on the edge of their seat. Augusto was consistent and brave, keeping ahead of Aleix Espargaro to cross the line only six seconds behind the winner and 1.5 seconds from a maiden MotoGP trophy.
Augusto Fernandez, 4th:
“I’m so happy. After the quali I had the crash in the Sprint and then also in Warm-up so I was missing some confidence but I knew I had the pace to fight for something in the race nice. I wasn’t expecting this though! I made the right choice with the front tire and I want to thank the team for all their work, not only here but all season, and we are going in the right direction, so let’s keep pushing.”
