Yonny Hernandez celebrated his 28th birthday on July 25 and they weren't thinking about him that much. But he's not the type to dwell on these details. Riders of the Ducati clan passed from Pramac to Aspar, it measures the journey accomplished until MotoGP. Nothing and no one predisposed him to such a career. Which is still far from its peak.
If you think that the trajectories of Cal Crutchlow or Sam Lowes are original, that the rise of a Jack Miller is particular or even that the path of a Petrucci is incomparable, wait until you see how Yonny Hernandez got there. Colombian by nationality, he comes from a country with a confidential motorcycle culture. He trained at the age of 14 by street racing, his family was in no way involved in the motorized two-wheeler world. He left his neighborhood in Medellín to land in Spain where he trained in motocross and Supermoto. It was there that he stood out for his particular style which opened the doors to the track: “ in Supermoto I put my knee on the ground and in motocross I stuck my leg out a lot. I was told to try the circuit and that's it » recalls the teammateEugene Laverty.
« I had a championship in Madrid which I won by a margin. Then I got an offer to do the Spanish Supersport championship. I made a podium in my first race. In seven races, I was on the podium four times but I also fell three times while fighting for places at the front. I had the opportunity to go to Moto2. What I have done ". It's 2010 and Yonny Hernandez becomes the first Colombian to race in the World Championship. He placed twice in the Top 10. He continued his apprenticeship at Blusens-STX in 2011.
He then signed with Avintia Racing to ride a CRT in MotoGP in 2012. Despite a few good races, the Colombian left his team and joined Paul Bird Motorsport to ride an ART in 2013. Hernández, however, left PBM before the Aragón Grand Prix to take the opportunity to replace Ben Spies at Ignite Pramac Racing and to make his prototype debut. He narrowly missed out on a place in Q2 and finished the MotorLand event in twelfth position. He continued with Pramac in 2014 to race on the new Ducati Open and was confirmed in the Italian team for 2015, alongside Danilo Petrucci, before joining the Aspar MotoGP Team, to continue on GP14.2, for 2016.
A dazzling journey: “ I am proud to be the only Colombian and the only South American driver on the grid. It gives me strength and motivation to always give my best. ". A self-sacrifice that almost paid off during the last Dutch Grand Prix. A rainy race at Assen that Yonny led for nine laps before making a mistake: “ I didn't feel anything special at the time » he laughs. “ I was on my pace, I overtook drivers and I found myself in the lead. I was focused and I certainly had what it took to make a podium ».
But it didn't and Hernandez has only three points under his belt in the championship: “ we are lacking success and we are not where we should be. This is my most complicated season in MotoGP. I work well and I'm competitive during testing but things don't go well in the race ". But he won’t give up: “ sometimes I wonder how I was able to reach this level when only four years ago I was still driving in the streets of Colombia. But I compensate for this lack of experience with hard work. Who I am today has nothing to do with who I was three years ago. My team is experienced, they help me a lot. I learn from my rivals, from my mistakes, I'm always on the telemetry, I watch the videos, I study everything I can study. And I thank providence for giving me the ability to be there ". Impossible is not Colombian.
