Sebastian got a solid start and settled in behind the early leaders while gauging the track’s grip. After some early caution, he began stalking the leading group, biding his time, studying the front-runners’ lines and waiting for the right opportunity. With four laps to go, the patience paid off. He attacked the leading group to take the lead. Once out front, the young American quickly opened up a huge gap.
“The big challenge was trying to stay calm and stay on the bike in the tough conditions. I thought I had the speed to make the podium, but I wasn’t sure I had the speed to win because my qualifying was only good enough for P4,” Sebastian said. “During the race I noticed that I was able to carry a lot more speed in the corners than the leaders. I’m not sure if they knew something I didn’t and maybe I was pushing too hard for the conditions, but I just kept riding my race and waiting for a smart spot to overtake. After I passed the leaders, my goal was simply to stay on the bike! The gap was huge, but I still had four laps to survive without crashing. My RS Academy team mechanics had the bike’s suspension dialed in and it seemed like I had a lot of braking stability on the wet track. The Brembos on the new Ohvale 190 are so good. The Dunlop rain tires were a nice surprise. I’ve raced the Pirelli rains before, but these Dunlops were on another level in terms of grip. It seemed like I could just ride like I always do. So I did. And won.”
This victory was more than just points in the championship – it was a personal milestone for Sebastian, who moved from the United States to Spain to train with some of the best riders in the world. Competing in Spain has meant adapting to a new culture on and off the track. Young riders in Spain are relentlessly fast; they start riding about when they start walking. When he first arrived over a year ago, it was a brutal wake up call.
“When we first got here, I was getting blue flagged [lapped],” he said. “It really brought me down but also made me angry. It was embarrassing to hear the Spanish parents yelling about the slow North Americans. They aren’t yelling now — it took some time, but it feels like we’re part of a big racing family. We all help each other and cheer for each other — it was a rough start, but now it’s amazing. Getting on the top step after starting from basically nowhere is a huge mental victory for me. Now that I know I can win, my focus is to continue step by step and see if I can do this again.”
The learning curve was steep.
Learning to adjust to the aggressive racing style of the Spanish took some time. “In Texas, the racing is pretty friendly, in Spain, it’s combat. But off track, it’s like a party. We try to kill each other on track and we roast marshmallows together off track,” Sebastian said.
In addition to Sebastian’s victory in the GP2 190 Ohvale class, his 12-year-old sister Sofia Dear took third place overall in the opening round in the Ohvale 160cc class. This result comes after Sofia’s stellar Spanish debut in 2024, in which she finished 4th overall in the Catalunya Cup’s 110cc category, including 2 podium finishes and she also took 2nd place in the Barcelona Championship for her class. She was also the top female racer in the Catalunya championship.
