Raul Fernandez to attempt Qatar MotoGP comeback after missing Malaysia
Raul Fernandez will try to race in Qatar this weekend after withdrawing from the Malaysian MotoGP.
Raul Fernandez is set to attempt to race at the Qatar MotoGP this weekend after missing the last two races with a broken finger.
Fernandez fractured two fingers in his Sprint crash at the Indonesian MotoGP in October. He raced to second a day later, but pulled out of the following grands prix in Australia (where the race was cancelled for rain anyway) and Malaysia.
Fernandez flew back to Spain on Friday and has undergone what his Trackhouse team refers to as “an intensive medical and physiotherapy regime” in order to try to race in Qatar.
“Yes, I love to race in Qatar – it’s a super unique race,” said Raul Fernandez ahead of the Qatar race.
“Everything is different, especially racing at night with the lights feels very special. But, to be honest, it is a track where I never got a good result – I don’t think I have scored points here in MotoGP, so statistically it’s a bad track for me.
“But I always love to race in Qatar and I think the layout of the track is amazing.”
Fernandez added: “I can’t tell you why I like the circuit, but I love it. Especially the third and fourth sectors are really fast and I love it there. When we have faster corners, I feel very comfortable.”
Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio added: “After the race has been delayed from the beginning of the season, we have reached Qatar.
“It’s always a track that delivers great races, good battles and it’s in the calendar for a long time and we’re happy to be here and to be finally able to race on this track.
“We come from Malaysia with a good weekend from Ai [Ogura]: P4 in the Sprint, P4 in the main race; and we hope to have Raul [Fernandez] fit and back in a good shape and have both riders again fighting for results in these last rounds of the season.”
Qatar will not be attended by Yamaha as a result of its company-wide travel policy for the Middle East region, which has been embroiled by conflict since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran in February.
Several other riders will miss the race. Alex Marquez underwent surgery after Malaysia on his shoulder; Fermin Aldeguer has been absent with a hand injury since Indonesia; and Joan Mir is a doubt for the race after his vision problems returned last weekend in Sepang, forcing him to retire.
Marc Marquez is set to race in Qatar, but said he will travel there at the latest time possible.
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
