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Fermin Aldeguer's MotoGP debut went somewhat under the radar, overshadowed by the surprising performance of Ai Ogura, the big revelation of the Thailand event. He may not have been able to immediately fight for the Top 5 like the Japanese Trackhouse team rider, fourth and fifth in the two races in Buriram, but the 19-year-old from Murcia can still be quite satisfied with what he was able to achieve at the Chang International Circuit.
In a weekend that tested more than one rider with conditions judged to be borderline extreme, Aldeguer earned his first three championship points, finishing 13th in the Grand Prix. The same placing Fermin also scored in the Sprint Race. After moving up, in both races, from 15th on the grid.
The great heat and tire degradation were two of the aspects that tested the young Spanish talent the most, especially in Sunday's race.
"It was hard and difficult. It was also very hot at the back of the grid. But we can be satisfied: we managed to finish the race, grind out kilometers and gain experience. We managed to do a good and consistent job all weekend and that was important," were the words spoken by Fermin at the end of the weekend and reported by Speedweek colleagues.
The leap from Moto2 to the premier class was a big one for the 19-year-old, impressed not only by the great heat generated in the race by the MotoGP bikes.
"It's crazy, because you can feel the heat from the other bikes and also the effect of the aerodynamics. It's very different ," admitted Aldeguer, who found even bigger differences with the intermediate class, however: "The hardest thing was to keep the pace all weekend. It was complicated to do so many laps."
After all, it was not such a foregone conclusion for the rookie to be able to complete all 26 laps of the Thai Grand Prix.
"My head was telling me, 'You can't finish the race with the heat and tire wear,'" he recounted, "I was passed by many riders fighting for the Top 10, but then I thought that if I was feeling bad, the others must feel the same way. I gave it my all and got three points for the championship. My goal was Top 10, but we can be happy anyway."
