Fernandez makes bold claim: “I have the level of factory Aprilia riders”

Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales helped secure an Aprilia 1-2 in second practice, as both riders set new lap records at different times.  

But Fernandez was not in the same ballpark as he could only manage 14th, meaning he’s the only Aprilia rider set to go through Q1 on Saturday.

• 2023 Indonesian MotoGP, Mandalika - Friday Practice Results 
• Espargaro fastest as lap record tumbles in Practice 2 at Mandalika

But the young Spaniard, who has been a top ten finisher in each of the last three grand prix’, feels he has what it takes to match the likes of Espargaro and Vinales.

“It was not really good,” said Fernandez when summing up day-one at Mandalika. “Since Barcelona I didn’t feel like this again on the bike. Today, I couldn’t ride like I wanted. 

“That is the reason I could not go fast. We tried but the problem is that, this weekend, we have a different tyre compound and we have very hard front tyres. 

“It’s quite difficult to work because sometimes we need to understand the race tyre and what we have to do for the direction we want to go in. 

“It's quite difficult sometimes and for that reason it was a tough day. I felt very good but when we put the soft tyre on it was like a disaster. 

“I couldn’t be fast and basically our bike has potential because I saw it. In the last races we saw that I have the factory rider level. I want to go there. 

“It doesn’t matter if we’re in Q1 or not, the target is to go there. The target is to be close to the factory Aprilias.”

A problem throughout last year’s first-ever Indonesian MotoGP was the amount of available clean track.

Several riders either had near-crashes - Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin were included in that - while others went one step further by falling off their machines for simply being off line.

Fernandez said the grip is good at Mandalika but that the amount of clean track is only 2 metres/2-and-a-half metres long.

The RNF rider added: “The problem is that the track, for me, was good in terms of grip which was a nice surprise, but the problem is that the track is too dirty. 

“You have 2 metres or 2-and-a-half metres of good track and basically if you’re wide then you cannot enter the corner. 

“It’s too easy to make a mistake. For me the problem is not the grip on the track, but it’s because it is too dirty. If you go wide you crash.”