Mandalika “ideal for Aprilia”, but could Raul be “in the middle” of MotoGP title fight?

Raul Fernandez did his best to contain his delight after leading an all-Aprilia top three in Friday practice for the Indonesian MotoGP.

But the Trackhouse rider, who unlike factory RS-GP stars Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi has no championship pressure, admitted he was even happier with his pace on the medium rear than with P1.

Fernandez set a 1m 29.793s on an eight-lap-old medium tyre earlier in the session.

For comparison, Ducati’s Marc Marquez could only manage a 1m 30.149s on the medium, while Fernandez’s lap would almost have been enough for direct Q2 qualification.

When Fernandez eventually fitted fresh soft tyres and lowered the fuel load, he slashed around a second from his lap time to finish 0.2s clear of Bezzecchi.

“We expected that this kind of track could be easier for us, but not like we saw in practice, to be honest,” Fernandez admitted.

“We know that Aprilia here is quite fast, so to make the difference I have to put everything that I have.

“Today I am happy, not for the lap record… I am really happy with the pace. The pace that I made was super strong.

“With the medium, I was not faster than with the soft, but I felt more comfortable, and this is the happiest thing for me today.”

KTM’s Pedro Acosta was the best non-Aprilia rider in fourth, 0.669s behind Fernandez, while Marquez was the leading Ducati in fifth at +0.701s.

Asked whether he could see Aprilia’s rivals closing the gap this weekend, Fernandez struggled to imagine it on current form.

“I don't want to feel that I am a superstar when I say [it] but right now I feel that it's very difficult.

“If you had to make an ideal track for Aprilia, it’s this one. Fast corners, flowing parts, super easy for us.

“With the medium I [almost] made a lap time to be in Q2 directly.”

No title pressure, but could Raul be "in the middle"?

With Martin and Bezzecchi locked in a title fight against Marc Marquez, Fernandez also has the advantage of being able to focus entirely on his own result.

“I don't want to be in the middle, and I don't want to be disturbing [the factory Aprilias], because they have a lot of work [against] Ducati and Marc, but we have a really good opportunity," he said.

“I think Trackhouse is doing a really good job, I want to give them everything that they are giving to me, so I just want to enjoy and don't think about the championship. I have a really good opportunity here, no pressure, so let's try to do it.”

Aprilia has said no team orders will apply, beyond giving each other extra room, until its riders are out of mathematical title contention.

Fernandez took his maiden Sprint podium at Mandalika last season and has since added Sprint victories at Assen and Mugello, plus his first MotoGP Grand Prix victory at Silverstone.

“We need to keep the mentality and focus, feet on the ground, and don't make stupid things,” he said.

“I feel super good, but we need to be calm and try every time to improve. If not, it will be difficult to win in a race.”

Team-mate Ai Ogura finished 13th after a fast FP1 crash heavily damaged one of his RS-GPs.