Raúl Fernández was at the forefront all weekend in Austria, and must now learn to manage his races in this way.
Raul Fernandez continued in Austria in the same dynamic as in the Czech Republic before the summer break. The Spanish rider seems to have had a click on the Aprilia, and has been riding in the top 10 for two Grands Prix. This weekend at the Red Bull Ring circuit, he automatically advanced to Q2 thanks to his fifth place in Practice on Friday, before qualifying in ninth place on Saturday.
In the sprint race, he was on course to claim another top-5 finish when he was forced to retire due to a technical problem midway through the race. This was a frustrating result, which he was unable to fully compensate for on Sunday during the main race, although he again showed good pace. He climbed back to sixth position, but was overtaken from the midway point onwards, ultimately finishing ninth.
Fernandez wants to remember his progress since the start of the season, which now allows him to move into the top 10 and which therefore changes the situation in terms of race management, a point on which he still needs to work.
“I still have things to learn. At the beginning of the season, we were struggling to fight for points, and now we’re fighting for a top 5-top 6. So I have to learn how to manage the tires and everything else. It’s not the ideal circuit for us, but I think we managed it pretty well and did a good job.”, he said during his debriefing.
"I just had some problems managing the tires well in the last part of the race. I'm also understanding the new aero package and how to manage the tires in those positions. I'm happy, but I'm also convinced that we can improve in the future."
Results Grand Prix from Austria
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
