02 June 2022 – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – Spain

The weekend we just spent at Mugello was poor in satisfaction for the Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Racing. In fact Friday, at the beginning of free practice 2, a bad accident took Ayumu off the scene, who will have to miss the next Catalan Grand Prix.

Our Japanese pilot suffered a clavicle fracture, a head trauma, and multiple contusions. In fact a more thorough x-ray analysis, carried out later in the hospital, ruled out the fracture of the vertebra and the fracture of a collarbone. The only fracture that Ayumu has reported to one of the two collarbones is a compound fracture, which will heal with a rest period. Our rider has returned to his home in Barcelona, and it is possible that Sunday he will visit us in the pits.

For this race Ayumu will be replaced by David Salvador, who has already raced with us in the Grand Prix of Argentina, the Americas and Portugal. David is taking part in the FIM JuniorGP World Championship, riding a Husqvarna and, in the three races held so far, he obtained three third places. We are sure that the experience previously gained in our box will help him, even if this time he will race in the Ayumu Team, led by Emanuele Martinelli.

John on the other hand was among the fastest throughout the weekend at Mugello, qualifying in sixth place. In the race, when he was in seventh position and in the group of the first, he unfortunately lost control of his bike and a rider who followed him closely hit his bike. It’s a good thing that John wasn’t hit, and he only had a few bruises. Our British driver in Barcelona will face his third race, after returning from his injury, which occurred at the beginning of the championship.

The Barcelona circuit is located 20 km northeast of Barcelona. In 2018 it was completely rebuilt and for last year’s race the layout of Turn 10 was changed, in order to increase the escape route and improve safety during braking. The track is 4.627 km long and has 8 right and 6 left turns. The starting straight is the longest and measures 1047 m.

We leave you to the words of John and our Team Owner Max Biaggi.

JOHN MCPHEE : “Montmelo is like a second home race for me as I’ve been living in Andorra for the last years. I always enjoy the track a lot and have had some great races there in the past. In Mugello we showed that my speed is good, so I’m looking to continue my form as well as my recovery to achieve the strong results we know we can.”

MAX BIAGGI – TEAM OWNER : “The in-depth analysis that was carried out on Ayumu, excluded the fracture of one of the two clavicles and the vertebra. This is good, because vertebral fractures are dangerous and always require special attention. Ayumu won’t need surgery on the only broken collarbone. A rehabilitation plan has already been drawn up, to allow him to recover in the best way from the accident. In his place we will have David Salvador, who replaced John in three races.”

Statistics

The race last year was won by S. Garcia. In second place was J. Alcoba, while D. Öncü completed the podium. The fastest lap in the race was obtained by D. Binder in 1’48.209, at an average of 154.9 Km/h. The pole was obtained by G. Rodrigo, with a time of 1’47.597 and an average of 155.8 Km/h.

John’s best result on this track was a fourth place in 2018.

The track from 2021 presents a new layout, so all records are to be referred to last year. For this reason, the pole obtained by G. Rodrigo represents the Best Pole and also the All Time Lap Record. For the same reason the Best Race Lap is the one that in the race scored D. Binder. K. Toba got the Top Speed, with the speed of 246.5 km/h.

Schedule – Local Time (GMT +2)

Here is the schedule to follow each session of Moto3 on track.

Thursday 02 June
17:00 – Press Conference

Friday 03 June
09:00 – 09:40 – FP1 Moto3
13:15 – 13:55 – FP2 Moto3

Saturday 04 June
09:00 – 09:40 – FP3 Moto3
12:35 – 12:50 – Q1 Moto3
13:00 – 13:15 – Q2 Moto3

Sunday 05 June
09:00 – 09:10 – WUP Moto3
11:00 – RACE Moto3