Everything seemed to indicate that this Saturday would be a great day for Raúl Fernández. Things started well in qualifying, when he was given his best time back after the yellow flag due to Jorge Martín’s fall in Q2, which left him in third position on the grid.. This with a 2023 Aprilia, with which Aleix Espargaró won both races last year, which adapts very well to the Montmeló circuit, because its aerodynamics degrade the tires less.
Thus, despite the fact that the track was very delicate, when he saw himself ahead, the Spaniard set a very high pace in the sprint race, which led him to lead the race. But the dream ended in a nightmare, since he ended up falling to the ground when he had some advantageleaving with the honey on his lips from his first victory, and also that of the Trackhouse team in MotoGP.
Thus, upon returning to the American team box, Fernández burst into tears after what happened, as he confessed to the media. The Madrid native apologized to the team for a “serious” mistakealthough he commented that it was not by forcing too much, as one might have thought at first.
“I’m better, but when I got to the box I cried like a child,” he began by saying. “I want to apologize to the team, because I made a serious mistake. Aprilia is working hard. I can’t go back now, but the mistake was not because I was exaggerating, or because I was going for the track record.. He was very calm on the bike.”
“The mistake was that I lost a little time in turn 9, and I tried to recover it by braking in the next one (turn 10), braking. I decided to go long, but at the last moment I closed the route and it closed in front of me“he later explained.
However, Fernández wanted to take the positive side of this Saturday by focusing on his present level, which may be a clue to what the future holds: “I have shown that I can be there, in front; it’s a matter of time“.
In addition, he also highlighted a change in the 2023 RS-GP that has made him feel more comfortable: “We have changed one important thing, especially in electronics, but now I can ride how I want“. This before making it clear that the rest of the incidents are not a hot topic: “Pecco Bagnaia and Brad Binder have also fallen, although that is no excuse“, he concluded.
