Having missed last weekend's race in Portugal, Raúl Fernández made an incredible comeback this Sunday, coming close to victory.
Raul Fernandez He caused a surprise this Sunday at the Valencia Grand Prix by establishing himself as Marco Bezzecchi's main rival for the win. The Spanish rider was far from being among the favorites this weekend, having just withdrawn from the Portuguese Grand Prix after his very violent crash on Friday of last week. Injured in the shoulder, he had missed qualifying and the races, and had traveled to Valencia. without yet being 100% recovered.
With a highly competitive Aprilia on the Ricardo Tormo circuit and the enthusiasm of his home crowd, the Trackhouse rider gave it his all, and the result paid off. Qualifying fourth, he had already finished fourth yesterday in the sprint race, but, just like Bezzecchi, he found that little something extra on Sunday.
After maintaining his position at the start, he quickly overtook Fabio Di Giannantonio before closing in on Álex Márquez lap after lap, finally passing him on lap 11. From then on, he set his sights on Bezzecchi, putting him under pressure until the very end. Having closed to within three-tenths of a second with a few laps remaining, he couldn't get any closer and had to settle for second place.
However, there wasn't a trace of disappointment on his face. Fernandez Upon arriving at parc fermé, he was visibly moved by this unexpected result after the two difficult Grands Prix he had experienced in Malaysia and Portugal. Having truly blossomed in the second half of the year, he thus concludes the season on a high note.
“With five laps to go, I thought I had it because Marco went wide a bit. I was braking really hard, I even had graining on my front tire trying to give it my all under braking. It wasn't possible, but I'm happy because I gave it 100%. I tried everything until the end and I couldn't do any more. Marco had better traction than me in two or three corners. I would have liked to take my second victory, but when you give it your all until the end, you can rest easy, even if you didn't manage it.” did he declare.
“If you had told me this six months ago, I wouldn’t have believed it! And even now, coming back from my painful injury in Portugal, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be fighting for the win. I’m exhausted, my shoulder and neck hurt, everywhere. The recovery was very quick; I wasn’t yet at 100%, but I gave it my all.”
Results Grand Prix Valencia MotoGP 2025 :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
