MotoAmerica racer and race technician Jason Aguilar, age 25, is on life support in a Southern California hospital after suffering a serious crash while riding his mountain bike on Saturday, February 5.
Aguilar was with friends, who immediately called for help, and he was airlifted to Providence Mission Hospital, in Mission Viejo, California.
“He was rushed into surgery to relieve bleeding in his brain,” Bob Aguilar, Jason’s father posted on Facebook February 6. “While the surgery was successful in stopping the bleeding, he went without oxygen to his brain for too long before the surgery. As a result of the lack of oxygen, he suffered catastrophic brain damage that is irreversible.
“Jason is an organ donor, so the hospital is making arrangements for (the) donation of his organs and for recipients of those organs. Once that is complete, Jason will be taken off life support. We hope that Jason will live on in your memories and ours, and that the donation of his organs will allow his memory to live on in others.”
Jason Aguilar started road racing and winning at a young age. He won mini road racing Championships with M1GP and SCminiGP before winning more club racing titles with MotoWestGP and WERA.
In 2014, then-17-year-old Aguilar took third-place in AMA Pro Supersport Race Two at Road America and finished sixth in that Championship. In 2015, Aguilar got another podium finish in MotoAmerica Superstock 600 and reached the podium three more times in 2016.
In 2017, Aguilar, riding a Yamaha for his own team, won six races and the MotoAmerica Superstock 600 Championship.
Aguilar stepped up to the MotoAmerica Supersport class, and riding for his own team again, he finished fourth in the 2020 Championship with three podiums and a total of 11 top-five finishes.
The Californian had planned to move up to the MotoAmerica Superbike class in 2021, but a sponsor backed out at the last minute, forcing him to abandon all plans of racing that season.
When not racing, Aguilar worked full-time as a technician for FTECU and sometimes as a crew chief for other MotoAmerica racers. He was an avid mountain biker, and he had recently moved in with his girlfriend Mehgan McDonald with their dog Finn. He had planned on returning to MotoAmerica racing full-time in 2022.
“It is likely he will be taken off life support tomorrow (February 8),” Bob Aguilar wrote in a message to Roadracingworld.com. “In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer that donations be made to the Roadracing World Action Fund to help prevent others from severe injury.”