Raul Fernandez on his body’s signals: “Be careful, don’t do anything stupid”

Even in the run-up to the MotoGP event in Qatar, Raul Fernandez dropped what was for him the most important message during his media session:“I was able to speed up the process.” He was referring to the recovery process for the finger he broke on 11 October in Indonesia, for which the Trackhouse rider had flown home to undergo extra sessions with his own physiotherapist.

What was missing was the real-world test, and that came on Friday: the Madrid-born rider secured seventh place in the very first free practice session, but even more important was his direct qualification for Q2. Fifth place in qualifying made that possible, even though not everything went to plan for the 26-year-old: “The injury is painful and I haven’t fully regained my range of motion yet. But I can ride in my own style again.”

Surprise: Raúl Fernández faster than Ai Ogura

That wasn’t the case at Phillip Island at the end of October, and he also had to sit out in Malaysia last weekend:“The fracture hadn’t healed yet in Australia. Your body sends you signals then: you should be careful and not take any risks.” The improved physical condition of the rider with number 25 is reflected in the lap times on the Qatar circuit: on Friday, the former Moto2 World Championship runner-up’s fastest lap was three-tenths of a second quicker than that of his team-mate Ai Ogura in ninth place. Consistency is also an advantage Fernandez has regained: “It doesn’t feel like it did in Australia, when my hand started to feel very uncomfortable after just a few laps. Here, we can set fast lap times and then improve on them lap after lap. Perhaps I’m not quite ready yet, but it’s getting better and better.”

Fernandez’s biggest drawback: “My movements are much slower.” On a positive note, however, the RS-GP also seems to be well-suited to the Lusail International Circuit: all four riders on Aprilia bikes have made it through to Q2: “Our bike is very good here. But we don’t have an autopilot that rides the bike on its own; rather, the riders on the RS-GP are all strong here!” Yet even there, there was a fly in the ointment for the rider currently seventh in the World Championship standings: “The lap record was set by a Ducati.”

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07.11.2026 - 10:25