MotoGP | Raul Fernandez: “In the garage I cried like a child”

Everything indicated that this Saturday would be a great day for Raul Fernandez. Things started well in qualifying, when he was given his best time back after it had been taken away due to the yellow flag caused by Jorge Martin’s crash in Q2. So, he started from third position. All with a 2023 Aprilia, the same one with which Aleix Espargaro won last year’s race. This RS-GP adapts very well to the Montmelo circuit, because its aerodynamics consume less tires.

So, despite the track being very delicate, the Trackhouse rider set a very high pace in the Sprint when he saw himself in front and took the lead. But the dream turned into a nightmare, as he crashed when he had a good margin, leaving him high and dry in what could have been his and the Trackhouse team’s first victory in MotoGP.

Returning to the garage, Fernandez burst into tears over what happened, as he confessed to the media. The Madrid native apologized to the team for the “serious” error, although he commented that it was not due to forcing much, as one might initially think.

“I’m better now, but when I got to the garage I cried like a baby,” he began. “I want to apologize to the team, because I made a serious mistake. Aprilia is working hard, I can’t go back, but the mistake wasn’t for exaggerating or setting a track record. I was very calm on the bike.”

“The mistake happened because I lost some time at turn 9 and tried to recover it under braking at the next corner. I decided to go wide, but at the last moment I closed the line and my front closed,” he explained, going into detail. However, Fernandez wanted to look at the positive side of this Saturday by focusing on the level, which can be an avenue of what the future holds for him: “I showed that I can stay up front. It’s a matter of time.”

Furthermore, he also highlighted a change on the 2023 RS-GP that made him feel more at ease: “We have changed one important thing, especially on the electronics, now I can ride as I want.” This is before clarifying that the rest of the falls are not an excuse: “Pecco Bagnaia and Brad Binder also fell, but this is not an excuse.”