The Moto3 World Champion, Jaume Masiá, reflected on the successful season he had and already began planning for 2024 – when he will make the leap to Moto2.
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo, the rider from Algemesí stated: ‘Things are just becoming real, and it’s an incredible feeling. You come home and see all the details, like the world champion helmet, and yes, little by little you start assimilating everything. As I always say, it’s difficult to beat someone who never gives up. It’s also true that this year the idea was just to have a good time. I started focusing only on the championship and stopped enjoying it. So, it was a pity to be living my dream, for which I fought since I was little, and not be enjoying it. I realized it wasn’t the best, of course, the title was always among my goals’.
He recalled: ‘I ended the season with enormous maturity. I also started working with a psychologist, it was an almost perfect package. The Austrian GP was very important, after not scoring any points in the previous two races, I was over 50 points behind the leader, the title was slipping away from me again, but I stayed strong and managed to turn the situation around. I have to say I was very nervous in Qatar, there was a lot of tension; we are a team against 20 factory bikes. This is the reality; our bike has been the same since 2019 because the 2020 bike has nothing to do with this year’s. We are a group of eight people against a factory. That’s what I meant at the time. I spoke in the heat of the moment, and that was a mistake; I said everything I had stored inside me’.
Next season, the Spaniard will make the move to the intermediate category. What can we expect from this entry into Edu Perales’ SAG Team? Masiá mentioned: ‘In fact, he was the only person who contacted me, then I had more contacts, but he was the first to talk to me. That says a lot, and especially the energy and confidence he conveyed to me were significant. It’s a very humble project. I was looking for peace of mind, to have my future assured. I’ve wanted to move up to Moto2 for a long time; I feel ready to do it. Not thinking about my future helped me focus on winning the championship. Everyone wants to win, and I do too. My main realistic and optimistic goal is to be the Rookie of the Year, which is also beautiful. Then, I would like to work steadily with an eye on 2025. Having the consistency of a top-10, for example, building a very solid foundation’.
Masiá praised some of the opponents he will face in the upcoming season: ‘Fermín Aldeguer, Alonso [López], [Tony] Arbolino, etc., there are many riders with a high level, and when you move up a category, you see that it is increasingly difficult to outperform others. It’s a category where the pace of the bikes is worked on a lot; trying to cut a tenth is very difficult’.