First in the Sprint, second in the Grand Prix: a double podium finish at Assen for Raul Fernandez. In a round where the Trackhouse team’s Aprilias left their rivals with nothing but crumbs, they secured their first one-two finish in a Grand Prix. Finishing second only to his teammate Ai Ogura at the end of the 26 laps of this Dutch Grand Prix, the Spanish rider capped off a nearly perfect weekend by delivering another standout performance after recovering from an appendicitis that had affected his performance at Brno. It was a big boost of motivation for Fernandez, who came within a hair’s breadth of a one-two finish at a key moment in determining his future in the MotoGP.
“I’m definitely very happy. To be honest, the goal for today was to fight for the podium, because Ai and Marco (Bezzecchi) had great pace on the medium rear tire, while I didn’t have everything under control with that tire. Between the warm-up and the race, we decided at the last minute to go with that tire, and I started working mainly on engine braking with my electronics, but I don’t think it was enough. I think we lacked a bit more clarity on the mappings today. I tried to pass Jorge (Martin) during the race, but it was almost impossible because he didn’t make a single mistake. He did almost everything perfectly. I, on the other hand, wasn’t comfortable with the right shoulder of the medium tire, and the only corners where you can overtake here are right-handers. So, I wasn’t able to overtake him until he slowed down a bit, and that was exactly when Ai came charging back with a blistering pace and beat us,” he said during the press conference. “I tried to hang on, but I was having problems with the front . In any case, I’m very happy, also for Ai and for the team. Like I said, the goal was to fight for the podium, and I almost fought for the win right up to the end.”
After taking the lead on the 17th lap by overtaking Martin, Raul briefly entertained the idea of repeating yesterday’s victory.
“There were moments when I thought about it, especially when I saw that my lead over Marc (Márquez) was almost two seconds. But the problem was that, at that moment, I couldn’t overtake Jorge who, as I said earlier, didn’t make any mistakes and was doing perfect trajectories on the track. I struggled at that point to conserve the tire for the final stretch, since we all know that Ai handles the last part of the race fantastically. I thought about it for a moment, but when I saw Ai coming up, I told myself that maybe finishing second would still be a good result for us,” he admitted.
Speaking specifically about his teammate’s unique riding style and how he manages to be so effective on the RS-GP, Fernández added, “It’s pretty strange to watch Ai ride, because his riding style is different than all of ours, and perhaps that’s also why he's able to be really fast in the final part of the race. There’s no denying it. The data shows his performance is improving more and more. So, keep an eye on Ai for the championship!”
The Aprilia rider then shared his opinion on whether Bezzecchi’s fall at Turn 15 might be related to aerodynamic issues.
“That was a spot where our bike was very fast compared to the other manufacturers because it had an edge there. But I felt a bit uncomfortable, especially in the slipstream. For some reason, when in the slipstream, we were having trouble with the front tire," he explained. “That might be the reason he fell. But I didn’t know about his fall until we finished the race, and they showed us the replay.”
The fall the rider from Romagna took shook up the championship standings, handing Martin the World Championship lead. However, there are still many riders who are mathematically in contention for the title.
“How many could win the championship? I agree with Ogura that, as long as the math doesn’t say otherwise, any rider can do it. If I have to be realistic, there are at least eight or nine riders who can fight for the title,” the Trackhouse rider said. He'll be doing his utmost to maintain this pace and stay in the running for the World Championship. “As long as the numbers don’t say otherwise, we’ll give it a shot. We have to stay positive.”
When asked when he might sign a contract extension with the Aprilia satellite team—or decide to move to another team—the rider from Spain said, “I don’t know. Right now, we don’t have anything concrete. I haven’t spoken much with my manager this week, but I’m convinced he’s doing his best to keep me here. Let’s see what happens over the next two weeks.”
Is the Tech3 team really a possible destination for him?
“We’ll try to give it our all this year, and then we’ll see what happens next year. I didn’t expect to be in such good shape at this stage of the season. Usually, from this point on, I start to feel a little better. So, let’s see what happens this year, because we have a good chance to compete. We have a very competitive bike, and I want to focus on that. I don’t want to dwell on things that are out of my control,” he replied, sidestepping the question.
Raul, after all, had some physical issues at the start of the season, when he was complaining of some shoulder discomfort.
“I had quite a few shoulder problems in the two races following Thailand. I couldn’t even ride the bike, which also led to a rather significant drop in my performance. Since then, I’ve started working a little differently with my trainer, and it seems I’m recovering from this injury. I don’t feel any pain or discomfort on the bike whereas, in Brazil and the United States, I raced with bandages because I was really in pain,” he recalled. “Since then, for some reason, I haven’t had any pain, and, on the contrary, I’m getting stronger every day. I’ll have to work a little harder toward the end of the year, but it’s nothing like the problem I had before.”