“Victory to DNF” all part of “fantastic” MotoGP
Raul Fernandez says the highs and lows of MotoGP are part of what makes it “fantastic” after crashing out just a week after his Phillip Island victory.
After the delight of a debut MotoGP victory in Phillip Island, Raul Fernandez didn’t even score a point at week later in Sepang.
The Trackhouse Aprilia rider was braced for a tougher weekend on the RS-GP in Malaysia, where he went on to qualify 15th, took 13th in the Sprint and then crashed out of 14th at the midway stage of the grand prix.
“The feeling to come from my first victory and then to make a DNF is quite strange,” Fernandez said of the extreme swing in emotions.
“But anyway, it is part of the job.
“You see MotoGP: One week ago, Honda had a lot of problems and now Mir gets a podium again.
“It means that MotoGP is a fantastic sport, because you see a lot of different riders and a lot of different brands fighting for the podium. It’s nice.”
Fernandez is one of seven different grand prix winners this season, and among 13 riders - across all five manufacturers - to stand on a Sunday podium.
Despite the Sepang disappointment, Fernandez preferred to look at the four flyaway rounds as a whole.
“Last week I got my first victory, but also in Mandalika and Japan we were quite strong,” he said.
“For me, the balance of the Asian tour was quite positive. Of course, this race doesn't help to keep our competitive line, but we knew that this kind of track could come.
“But we cannot look just at this race, because we know that it is one of the worst tracks for us.
“Also, it was my mistake, because I chose the medium front tyre. So it is the consequence of trying something different to find a better solution in the last moment.”
Fernandez’s main regret was missing out on at least a few championship points, leaving Malaysia just four behind Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and ninth in the world championship.
“If we could take two, three or four points, it was positive for us,” he said.
“Anyway, the pace was not really competitive, so we need to analyse well what happened this weekend.
“The important thing for the future is that we will have three days of [2026 pre-season] testing here to try to find something.”
Fernandez heads into this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix with 146 points, more than double last year’s total of 66.
Rookie team-mate Ai Ogura finished tenth at Sepang
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