Top MotoGP prospect Izan Guevara will miss the start of his rookie Moto2 season due to “a triangular fibrocartilage injury in his right wrist,” his Gas Gas Aspar team has announced.
Guevara beat the highly-regarded, more experienced likes of Sergio Garcia and Dennis Foggia to the 2022 Moto3 title in his second year in the category, and secured a promotion to the intermediate class – staying with the same Aspar team.
But his first Moto2 pre-season has been disrupted by a wrist injury of an unspecified origin, and Guevara finished only a distant 28th on the combined times in the test at Portimao ahead of the season opener.
He will now miss said opener this weekend, as well as the April 2 race at Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina.
In its statement, Aspar said Guevara went in for a check after the Portimao test that also “revealed findings compatible with chronic compartment syndrome”, meaning arm pump.
It says Guevara, needing a month of recovery, will be sidelined “at least” until round three at COTA, potentially opening the door for him to sit that round out as well.
Two-time MotoE champion Jordi Torres, who has switched to Aspar’s team in the category this year after having raced for the team extensively in Moto2 a decade ago, is the replacement.
The MotoE season starts in May at Le Mans, and Torres says he views the Moto2 outings as “more practice” for the electric series, which has switched to Ducati machinery this year.
“I hope Izan can make a speedy recovery. It’s a pity that after the great season he had last year, he starts this season like this, but the most important thing is that he can come back stronger than before,” said Torres, who has five MotoGP starts to his name as an Avintia Ducati injury stand-in in 2018.
Guevara is probably the second most-touted young rider in the KTM/Gas Gas junior ranks right now, behind only Pedro Acosta, who he succeeded as Moto3 champion.
Acosta was the pacesetter in the Portimao Moto2 test, leading fellow Spanish MotoGP hopefuls Fermin Aldeguer and Aron Canet.
