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There's no official word yet, but it seems almost certain that Augusto Fernandez will take Cal Crutchlow's place as a Yamaha test rider in 2025. Not only because the Spanish rider already has Fabio Quartararo's support and endorsement, but because he also admitted that he's close to signing a contract to continue his MotoGP adventure in capacities other than full-time rider.
"I definitely won't be on the grid, but I'll be riding a MotoGP bike. We're working on it. It's not done yet, but we hope to get it done soon," the GasGas Tech3 team rider said at the end of the Austrian GP.
KTM's home race wasn't very lucky for the 27-year-old, who was forced to withdraw during Saturday's Sprint race. But Augusto was still able to make up for it a bit by picking up a point in Sunday's Grand Prix, which ended with a 15th position in Takaaki Nakagami's wake, with less than three seconds behind his teammate, Pedro Acosta, 13th at the finish.
"I'm somewhat happy because at least suffered like Brad Binder and Jack Miller. They were faster, but Acosta is usually very fast. We were always suffering in the same spots, but at least we kept a competitive pace, getting the most out of the package," the Iberian rider noted, as he took stock of his Sunday.
A day that was quite different from the previous one. "Like day and night, compared to Saturday. In the end, we had no confirmation of what happened. It's hard to have an answer when these things happen. But you just have to have confidence and hope," Fernandez commented, satisfied with the slight progress he made in the last race of the weekend.
"The position was the usual. I was fighting for points, but I think the pace was better, at least than usual. I struggled like my teammate," he added, before talking about the front locking on him, which affected more than one rider at the Red Bull Ring: "Locking in the MotoGP is something you have to get used to and accept. When the front tire gets hot, it's even worse, so you have to avoid being close to someone else. Get fresh air and cool the tire. The more you push, the more you lock the tire."
While he was able to keep a similar pace as Acosta's in Austria, the 2022 Moto2 World Champion knows that it won't be easy to stay in the game with his brandmates in the upcoming nine championship rounds. But that's exactly what he wants to try to do.
"After the bad season I am having, my goal until the end of the championship is to be closer to the rest of my teammates. To try to be with them at every track," he admitted. "Jack and Brad were very fast today. I have to figure out why, but I was at least as fast as Pedro."
