Raul Fernandez's 2026 season couldn't have started better than with a double podium in Thailand. Third in the Sprint, the Madrid native from the Trackhouse team managed to repeat his performance in the Grand Prix and bring home another impressive result, at the end of a race that was anything but easy due to tyre wear and less-than-perfect physical condition.
"Today was a good race. I gave it my all and had a bit of déjà vu from the race in Valencia, when I finished second and Marco first. I tried to close the gap with him, but I also tried to save my tyres, because yesterday we found that the rear tyre was wearing out quite quickly, especially on the straight," said Fernandez at the press conference. "I tried until the end, but for some reason both of them (Bezzecchi and Acosta, ed.) managed their rear tyres better than me: I had a lot of wheelspin on the straight in the last three or four laps and I tried to survive. Anyway, I felt good on the bike and we started the season very well. I think I'm a better rider now because I can stay very calm in the pits in difficult moments. We tried, even though we didn't manage to take second place today because Marco was on another level and Pedro also preserved his tyres better than us. We have to learn for the future."
Despite the great potential shown by Aprilia, Raul is keeping his feet on the ground as he sets the bar for the rest of the season.
"Will I be able to fight consistently for the podium? I hope so, but we don't really think we can be among the title contenders. This means that our goal must be to stay in the top eight throughout the season. We'll have to be there in the difficult races, and if we get the chance, I'll obviously try (to get on the podium, ed.) and I'll be happy if I manage to do it," he said. "In any case, I think Davide (Brivio, ed.) has created a great group within the team: two years ago, it was difficult to see people happy, but now everyone is happy and working in the same direction. We know that Ducati still has some excellent riders, as are Bezzecchi and Acosta. I don't have everything under control with this bike yet, but we are on the right track to get what I want from the bike."
His feeling with the RS-GP was one of the areas that the Trackhouse team rider explored.
"We still have to work on the engine. What I like most about this bike is its stability under braking. The problem, as I said, is that I don't have everything under control yet, and we need to work on that," he noted. "Yesterday, I was telling Fabiano Sterlacchini and Davide that if the Raul from a year ago had been here, he might not have been able to do what I did after a first day in which he was struggling. But with people with this experience, you find a way to understand everything and improve as a rider and as a person."
Going into more detail about his physical condition, he added: "My shoulder didn't bother me. The problem is that I hurt myself in Portugal and didn't have time to have surgery before the start of the year. I'm having a bit of trouble, especially when braking into right-hand corners. That's why I had to manage things carefully in Turn 3 during today's race, and I lost a bit in the second sector. But we have to be happy because we did a great job, and we have to stay calm because this is only the first race and the championship is still long."
In fact, it was the tyres, rather than his shoulder, that caused the Spaniard problems in the final laps of the race.
"The real problem was the tyres, which had to be managed along with the fuel. In the last 7-8 laps, I was struggling and thought I wouldn't make it to the end because I had a lot of wheelspin on the straight," he said. "I tried to anticipate the gear change, but I continued to struggle and couldn't keep up with Bezzecchi. Maybe I would have had the pace to maintain second place, but I'm still happy to be on the podium in the first race of the World Championship. We know that there will be races that go better and others that go worse, but we have to be consistent and learn and really attack when I feel ready."