“Every point matters” for Izan Guevara after Pramac decision on Qatar MotoGP

Izan Guevara admits “every point matters” for him in his battle with Manuel Gonzalez for the Moto2 title as the Qatar Grand Prix nears.

Guevara and Pramac briefly looked set to skip Qatar when Yamaha announced it would not be sending its MotoGP teams to Lusail this weekend.

But the Moto2 team of the Italian squad was given the choice of whether to go or not. It opted to race, given the position of Guevara in the championship – only 3.5 points behind Gonzalez with three rounds to go.

Qatar has never been a circuit that has yielded strong results for Guevara, but he goes there in strong form, with four podiums in the last six races.

“Qatar is a circuit I really like, although I've never stood on the podium here, so I think this could be a good weekend to try to change that,” Guevara said.

“We're now just three and a half points behind the championship leader, so every point matters.

“It's a track with many fast corners, and we'll need to adapt our riding style to make the most of its characteristics. 

“We're coming off a positive result in Malaysia, where we fought until the end of the race, so I'm looking forward to getting the weekend started and continuing to work in the same way we have been doing so far.”

Team manager Alex De Angelis added that, while the Pramac team and Guevara were uncompetitive at Qatar last year, the prospects of the team have improved drastically since then.

“Qatar was a difficult circuit for us last year, but we arrive this time with a completely different level of potential and a much more positive outlook,” said De Angelis.

“From the middle of last season onwards, Izan [Guevara] made consistent progress, becoming increasingly competitive, culminating in his victory in Valencia. 

“When we came to Qatar last year, neither he nor the bike, and probably not even the team, had reached the level we have today.

“Now the situation is completely different. We're all performing at a very high level, working well at every circuit, and showing that we can be fast in different conditions and from different positions on the grid. 

“We therefore have every reason to believe we can be competitive in Qatar as well.

“Our objective remains to score as many points as possible and avoid giving anything away.

“Izan is very good at managing that, and we'll make sure we work carefully on every detail to give him the best possible package.”