Raúl Fernández: After receiving applause from the Trackhouse boss, he gave himself a telling-off

For the Trackhouse rider, his time on British soil has long been a great success story. Even before the first session on the extraordinary Silverstone circuit, the Madrid-born rider was in high spirits. The finalisation of his partnership with Trackhouse Racing until 2028 came as no surprise and was a relief – given that his future had not always seemed clear and there had also been talks with other teams.

Once the contract was signed, Fernández continued to improve, shining on the track in every session. In Q2, the Spaniard delivered a spot-on performance and secured a front-row start for the RS-GP. Team owner Justin Marks, who was present in England, praised his commitment and performance on the track over the official MotoGP microphone: “We’re absolutely delighted to have him – Raúl is part of Trackhouse’s foundation in MotoGP – he’s part of our family, and the fact that we have more years ahead of us together is a huge boon.”

Raul Fernandez schimpfte mit sich selbst

Foto: Gold and Goose

A few hours later, however, the positive mood surrounding the highly regarded rider’s present and future had evaporated. ‘RF25’s’ Aprilia spun off the track in the first tight left-hand bend, the Village. Fernandez emerged unscathed but was absolutely furious after the brief sprint – with himself. “I’m really annoyed, because that was 100 per cent my fault – clearly my mistake!”

The Trackhouse rider explained what had happened: “I was riding behind Marco, studying him; I was faster than him. I then worked out how to handle him, wanted to carry more momentum out of Turn 4, but went into the corner a bit too aggressively. The real issue, though, was the very poor start. That’s what put me in that position in the first place.”

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Indeed: Fernández lost three positions in the first kilometre and consequently had to adopt an attacking approach. Fernández, who – despite the blunder – managed to hold on to 6th place in the World Championship standings ahead of Pedro Acosta, made no excuses, but sees the poor start as the bigger issue. “I didn’t have a good feeling with the clutch even this morning, and there was some vibration at the start of the Sprint. We’re working on understanding exactly why that happened. Personally, I’m trying to stay calm, focus and be where we can be in the GP.”

In this case, at the front. At Silverstone, the Aprilia camp is back on track following a triple triumph in Q2, which was carried through to the finish line – incidentally, for the first time in a sprint race. They’ve picked up a few more points in both the Riders’ and Constructors’ Championships. With a flawless Raul Fernandez, the successful trio could become a quartet.