GasGas To Join MotoGP With Tech3, Pol Espargaro Confirmed For 2023

By David Emmett |

GasGas, the iconic Spanish motorcycle brand bought by the Pierer Mobility Group and KTM, is to enter MotoGP with the Tech3 team. From 2023, Tech3 will become the GasGas Factory Racing Team, with Pol Espargaro confirmed as one of their riders. The team will compete with factory-backed KTM RC16s branded under the GasGas name.

Although GasGas will be competing under their own name, this does not mean that they will be regarded as a new manufacturer under MotoGP regulations. For the purposes of the rules, GasGas will be treated as KTM. That means they will not have concessions, have the same engine homologation and testing rules as KTM. They will also have no representation in the MSMA, KTM remaining the representative for the Pierer Mobility Group brands.

The rebadging of the KTMs as GasGas is very much a branding exercise, KTM CMO Hubert Trunkenpolz said. The objective is to use MotoGP as a marketing platform to reach a young audience to promote their sporting brand. In line with this, Trunkenpolz explained, there will soon be a line of street bikes from GasGas, though he gave no further details on this.

The press release from GasGas appears below:

Get on the Gas! GASGAS set for 2023 MotoGP™
GASGAS have always been keen to get on the gas for fun but now the throttle grip feels different, the pace faster and the stakes higher.

From 2023 Spain’s iconic motorcycle brand will join the rush of MotoGP for the first time in deal that sees the Tech3 Factory Team turn a full crimson red. The renowned race-winning crew will be equipped with GASGAS MotoGP technology and will place the machinery into the hands of Pol Espargaro for the globe-trotting Grand Prix series with a second rider to be confirmed soon.

Competition - and all the thrill and excitement that comes from racing - is part of GASGAS’ soul. The company, formed in the 1980s, celebrated the joy and buzz that motorcycling brings: everything that is daring, capable, vibrant, inviting. Fame in Trials and Enduro quickly transformed into motocross, supercross and rally success in recent years with a comprehensive foundation of offroad production bikes and now - after tasting spoils in in both Moto3™ and Moto2™ classes- the brand is ready for the next frontier; the pinnacle of road racing.

GASGAS want to bring their young, fresh and passionate vibe to the highest stage and that meant transforming the objectives of the Tech3 Factory Racing team for 2023. The decorated outfit and Pol Espargaro will become a new and welcome member of the GASGAS family. The popular 31-year-old will also tie-in some of GASGAS’ Iberian heritage for their maiden MotoGP tilt.

The distinctive red and white livery will go faster than it ever has been thanks to the new GASGAS MotoGP trailblazer. The marque will be the sixth brand in MotoGP for 2023 but has already boosted its presence with Grand Prix victories and podium appearances in Moto3 and Moto2 in the last two seasons thanks to the excellence of the GASGAS Aspar team.

Pit Beirer, GASGAS Motorsports Director: “GASGAS is a winning brand. It has reached an incredible level of performance immediately in disciplines like MXGP, Supercross, Enduro and Rally where we have taken Grands Prix, Main Events, world titles and overall winners’ trophies. It’s a relatively new brand for us and we have new goals. We hope the fans that follow ‘the red’ will enjoy the story. 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 Hervé 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, Member of the Executive Board, CMO: “Taking the GASGAS name bigger and wider than its roots in Trial has been really successful in a number of ways. 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, the management will help GASGAS make a splash in the premier class. That’s what we’re hoping for!”

MotoGP
GasGas
Pol Espargaro
KTM
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Comments

... in that Gas Gas is functioning more as a title sponsor of a KTM factory race team.



I get the "branding" portion of this, but it seems a little bit disingenuous.  It's like "the secret that everyone knows".



In any event, I'm looking forward to seeing how Pol does back in the KTM fold.

^ This is a good thing. Orange is currently trying to get Oliveira to join Pol there. Great lineup for Herve! It being classified as a Factory Team w new Manu brings opportunity for all. Concern Remy may lose out. Poor kid has been having a stressful go. He deserves well.

Now, about that Yamaha 2nd Team...

It's just a KTM with a wig on it so i don't understand the furore in the press as all Tech3 have done is change the name and colour on the bike.

Hate to trash Simon, but his bias for  aussies and south africians (in other words other ex-commonwealth riders) is palpable and comes out in his tone and content. During discussions about Olivera bumping Gardner he made an audible "meh". Really? Time to pro up. Frankly, I'm no fan of the man that married his sister, but no way anyone takes Gardner over Olivera unless it comes down to price.

Hi mtiberio. I am not sure you are entirely wrong in your observation - for some reason patriotism or regionalism does seem to influence a lot of sentiment about riders and teams. (Guilty as charged here your honour!) The competing perspective though is this; MotoGP is very Euro rider centric and having an EU passport seems unhealthily correlated with opportunity. Olivera is a very good established rider. In my view both Gardner and Fernandez have way greater upside than he and a flock of other EU riders, who, through national and other social connections have vastly better rides. There is some real significance in my mind about actually winning a championship, something Gardner managed but Olivera did not. Gardner's and Fernandez's year(s)in Moto2 were, IMHO superior to anything that Olivera managed. (Remembering that we are talking about performance in a specified class, so there is less of a bike variance). The same observation could be made about Alex Marquez who has won in two classes only to have the misfortune to land on top of the catapulting carnival ride Honda. Then we have the love that is dealt out endlessly in the broadcasts about Marini, Bez, Digi etc. If that isn't euro centric I don't know what would be... . When we look at the recent Silverstone attendance it is hard not to connect that to the difficulty experienced by UK riders in getting a decent GP seat. Similarly the situation for US/North American riders is problematic. I don't buy that there is some sort of genetic superiority provided by the EU passport.

Acknowledging that DORNA does a pretty good job overall I think that they are chasing fairies if they ever imagined the whole reality TV thing would ever improve the mass market appeal of MotoGP. (Cause MCycling is niche...) Whereas having a more internationally representative field might actually make a difference. If I were them I would have an ability to nominate Dorna sponsored riders and also wild card riders from other audience markets. (Mind you I am a major outlier in this respect because I think the gender bias in MotoGP creates a use-by date, if not an audience ceiling.) 

All of the comments though ignore the enormous ego sitting in the corner - which is the huge self obsession which is KTM, and their spectacular underperformance. There have been many many comments about Ducati focusing too much on machine over rider, but they do at least have something impressive to show for it. If one is a fan of Olivera one can only hope he gets on an Aprilia Asap. I think the Tech 3 blokes have just given frank feedback about their rides and are being actively resented for it.

tonyg, I agree. And I would add, as I have posted in the past, that Spanish, Italian and, to a lesser extent, other European riders, start racing at Jerez, Misano, Valencia, and other gp tracks at a very young age. They know the system, they know the tracks, and they know their opponents--when they're 12. Folks like Remy, Spies, Miller, even the Binders have to have incredible commitment and resources at a very early age to even get in the game. That passport is important for more than marketing reasons.

I think that racing in Europe from an early age over a period of years gets a rider seen by the people who are acting, essentially, as the scouts for the teams in the GP world. If a rider is seen consistently and can be seen to ride at a good level and improve over a period of years, that rider will be talked about to the team people at the top. Those people aren't regularly going to the races in the US, Australia, etc., and if they did go to the races there, they'd have no point of reference, like being able to compare a rider to other riders the "scouts" feel they have a decent perspective on.