Raúl Fernández doesn't fully accept the penalty he received after his contact with Enea Bastinini at the Argentine Grand Prix, but remains satisfied with the changes made by the stewards. While the long lap compromised his race, he noted clear progress after a very difficult weekend.
After an encouraging season opening in Thailand despite a race retirement due to tire overheating, Raúl Fernández had a completely different weekend in Argentina. Lacking a feeling with the Aprilia, he and his team spent the Grand Prix making adjustments to the set-up, to no avail. The Spaniard was at the bottom of the standings throughout the sessions and the sprint race, which he finished in 16th place after starting from 18th on the grid.
The turning point finally came for Sunday's race, after yet another change of settings, which allowed him to regain speed. "We changed the bike again today. I had this bike in Thailand when I was injured and not feeling well, and maybe it was a mistake because we lost our way a little bit. In Thailand it was more or less okay but here, after two days, the bike wasn't working the way I wanted. So we went back to what I had last year and that was the key to making me feel competitive again., he explained.
Having moved from 18th to 13th place on the first lap of the race, he could have hoped for a good result, but unfortunately, contact with Enea Bastianini compromised his race. Judged responsible for the Italian's crash, he was given a long lap that cost him 3 seconds, a lap he never managed to recover. While he didn't fully accept the penalty, he was nonetheless pleased with the discussions he had with the stewards after the race.
"I'm very happy with the new team of stewards. We can talk with them and explain our point of view. I only agree 50% with the penalty, because I touched Enea a little, but he fell alone because he didn't lift his bike. But I'm still happy with the stewards. It's a milestone for us."
17th throughout the race, Raul Fernandez overtook Fermín Aldeguer on the last lap to take 16th place, which eventually turned into 15th place with the disqualification of his teammate Ai OguraA point that symbolizes a successful end to the weekend given the difficulties encountered during the first two days and which he hopes bodes well for the Grand Prix of the Americas in two weeks.
"My grid position wasn't the best, and there was also the penalty, but lap after lap I found the rhythm to fight with the others. I had a very similar pace to Fabio Quartararo, who was much faster than us yesterday. It makes me feel like we're making progress. At the end of the race, I felt very good on the bike and with the tires, so I'm very motivated for Texas.", he concluded.
Results of the Argentine Grand Prix :
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
