“Lucky” Raul Fernandez: “I had to jump… my shoulder popped out”
Raul Fernandez was “lucky” to escape a huge Portimao MotoGP practice crash: "My shoulder popped out and then went in again."
A “lucky” Raul Fernandez was able to return to Friday’s practice at Portimao despite suffering a shoulder dislocation during one of the biggest crashes of his MotoGP career.
The Phillip Island winner lost the front of his Trackhouse Aprilia on entry to the fearsome first turn on his 12th lap of the morning session, sending the Spaniard cartwheeling through the gravel trap.
Fortunate to avoid his RS-GP as it slammed into a nearby airfence, Fernandez nonetheless took a heavy impact on his right shoulder, causing a brief dislocation.
Referred to a local hospital for CT scans, Fernandez was cleared to take part in the afternoon session, where he was a Qualifying 2 contender on his way to 15th.
“I feel lucky,” Fernandez said. “This morning, I had one of the biggest crashes I ever experienced in MotoGP.
“In the moment, I was preparing the corner entry when I felt something strange on the bike and I had to jump off and in that moment, my shoulder popped out and then went in again.
“This makes me still feel very uncomfortable - I’m not at 100% - but Dr. Angel Charte and the championship medical team did a great job.
“This afternoon, I felt fit to ride and I tried two laps first of all and was safe to ride the bike.
“After that, I tried to gather information for tomorrow and honestly, it was a surprise because I felt much better than I expected before jumping back on the bike.
“So I’m happy - the bike is working well and tonight I need to recover, stay calm and then tomorrow we have another opportunity and if I’m fit, I believe we can fight to go to Q2.”
Meanwhile, rookie team-mate Ai Ogura secured the final top ten place for direct Qualifying 2 access.
“It was a good surprise today - I didn’t expect to get into Q2 directly – so, a positive first day for us,” said the Japanese. “There are still a lot of places to improve but, I think, we are in good form now.
“Tomorrow is another important day and we’ll see in Qualifying after I tried to approach today in a different way, especially the first five, six laps this morning and it worked for me. It’s good to know we can approach in a different way. I’m happy.”
In this article
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
