Moto3: Front runner Guevara announces retirement aged 22

Moto3 world championship front runner Juanfran Guevara has announced his retirement from racing aged only 22 years old, walking away from racing despite being on the provisional entry list for 2018 with the RBA BOE Racing KTM team.

The Spaniard made his debut on the podium earlier this season at Mugello, putting together a strong if inconsistent 2017 season to finish the year in 11^th place overall.

However, with the pressures of racing in the championship – and of trying to find the money to compete – he says that he’s going to step away from motorbikes to instead concentrate on his career outside bikes.

“It was a very hard and thoughtful decision that I made with the help, first of all, of my family, of all the directors of the Fan Club and of the main sponsors who have supported me throughout this years. My passion for the world of motorcycling has not changed at all, but different economic reasons, and mainly personal, have given rise to this irrevocable decision.

“I have decided to focus my career on the business world, studies that I have been combining all these years while competing in the Motorcycle World Championship. A point has arrived where I believe that in this way I will be able to grow more as a person and also dedicate more time to different projects that I have been developing over the last few years and that until now I have not been able to defend as they deserve.

“Everyone who is or has been in this world, knows everything that has to be sacrificed in order to give 100% in the circuits. I want to dedicate more time to my family and to recover, in a certain way, friends and people that I have neglected.”