By: Finn Motorsports
July 18 2018
Alcañiz, Teruel, Spain – Canadian teen Jonathan Finn had high hopes for this past weekend’s PreMoto3 race at Motorland Aragón with his bad luck behind him. Many believe bad luck comes in threes, then add a Friday the thirteenth to the mix you’ve now got a sense of how Finn’s most recent race weekend went.
Solid progress during Thursday’s free practice sessions led the young racer to believe his luck was about to turn in his favour, however Friday the thirteenth released an elusive ghost in the machine that proved difficult for the team to pinpoint.
"It was frustrating, not only for me but my team. Based on what I was telling them how the bike felt and sounded then compared that with the electronic data we were getting from the bike to figure out this gremlin." said Finn.
To remedy the problem, the team performed an engine swap with the hopes that this would resolve what Finn was experiencing.
The engine swap seemed to help Finn recover from a problematic start to the weekend, Only able to run two of the three Qualifying Sessions he pushed as hard as he could and put his Canadian Tire - Cobourg XCtech Pre-Moto3 machine in the middle of the 4th row in 13th position for the start of Sunday's race.
Always wanting to improve his results, Finn commented; "I always want better results whether its qualifying or during the race. 13th out of 25 riders is okay, but I really wanted to qualify inside the top 10 for the start of Sundays race."
Initially Finn felt really good on the bike in the morning warm-up session but then the same problems he experienced during Friday's free practice reared its ugly head.
Unfortunately, as the young Canadian was on his sighting lap he knew that the issue had not been fixed. Finn pulled back into pit lane and the team scrambled to try to fix the problem.
Because Jonathan's #26 machine was removed from the grid, he would receive a penalty and Championship rules state that he would now have to start the race from last on the grid.
"We’re all working to find the right solution to this problem. I can't thank my team enough. But it’s a team effort, so we win as a team and we struggle as a team." said Finn.
During the start, Finn launched off the line and started the daunting task of picking off riders one by one. He was able to push hard and within the first three-laps he had worked his way up to 15th position. Unfortunately, Finn would be affected by the same issues that had plagued him all weekend and would cause Finn to retire 4 laps into the race.
With this DNF, Finn is currently 12th in the championship and only 6 points outside the top ten with two more rounds left in the season.
The RFME Campeonato de España Cetelem de Velocidad Championship now begins its summer break and then resumes at Circuit Ricardo Tormo Valencia September 6-9.
Many have inquired about Finn possibly returning to Canada to compete in the final round of the Canadian Superbike Championship’s Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike class at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park next month: “Unfortunately, there was just to many logistical obstacles to overcome for me to attend this year. I am looking forward to future opportunities to return to Canada and race. I want to thank all the people who made the effort to help me to try to briefly return to Canada and race on home soil.”
Finn is thankful for the support from Canadian Tire – Cobourg, Arai Helmet Americas, Bickle Racing, Human 2.0, Impact Safe-T Armor, Marsquest, BigB Racing, VNM Sport, Moto World, RST-Moto, Infinet Motorsports and Vroom Media Ltd.
Follow Jonathan’s journey at jonathan-finn.com, on Facebook (Jonathan Finn Motorsports), Twitter, Instagram (@finnmotorsports) as well as Finn Motorsports on YouTube. For more information about Jonathan Finn or if you would like to become involved as a sponsor please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.