One MotoGP rider admits “after the crash, I can’t be relaxed on the bike"
Trackhouse rider had surgery last week on hand injury
Raul Fernandez says he is “destroyed” after his first day on the Trackhouse Aprilia at the Buriram MotoGP test following surgery on a hand fracture last week.
The 2021 Moto2 title runner-up suffered a fast crash on day one of the Sepang test last week and fractured his left hand.
He was ruled out of the rest of the test and flew home for surgery, which was successful and meant he could return to action this week in Thailand.
He completed 33 laps on Wednesday at the Buriram test down in 19th on the timesheet.
Raul Fernandez returns from injury
Fernandez called it a “positive day overall”, but admits he “can’t be relaxed on the bike” due to his injuries.
“My physical condition is not so good,” he said.
“After the crash, I can’t be relaxed on the bike.
“Here, I am lucky because we don’t have a lot of left curves, and especially on the left curves I cannot push because I have the finger and I have also the foot.
“I cannot put my normal position on the bike, it’s almost impossible.
“For me, the first day was really positive, the pain was good. This was the main thing.
“I mean, now we are working on the pace, trying to work with the used tyre, not try to focus on the lap time.
“I know everybody is almost close to being there to trying to show the potential in the lap time.
“I am not in this way. I am more focused on myself, I am really happy with the work that we did today and overall it was a positive day.
“It’s just in the left curves I can’t be relaxed and it doesn’t help me because especially on the left I can’t put my feet like I want and I have to be tense in the curve.
“I am destroyed. For the rest, it was a positive day.”
Despite his pain, Fernandez expects to be back to full fitness for the Thai GP at the end of the month.
“At the race the target is to be 100% because I made the surgery to be here but also to be fit for the race week,” he added.
“If I don’t make it [the surgery] maybe I don’t arrive to the race. So, hopefully - and I think - I will be 95% or 100% ready for the race.
“And if it’s not like this I will be focused and try to do my best as always.
“But overall I’m happy. Today I’m trying to be focused on the present and for tomorrow I am optimistic because we have a different way to try and I’m excited to see what happens.”
Getting more time on the 2025 RS-GP on Wednesday at the Buriram test, Fernandez noted that the steps forward it has made from last year’s version are noticeable but he needs time to adjust because “it’s not an easy bike”.
“I see a lot of good things on the bike,” he said.
“I see two or three points that we struggled a lot since arriving to Aprilia that we have improved a lot.
“I see the bike also is quite easy to ride the bike. And I feel the difference on the bike.
“Also I feel this bike has better potential, in terms of pace and lap time.
“I think this bike can be faster. But we need more time to work. It’s not an easy bike.
“I need more time to understand, my mechanics need more time to find the set-up to be fast. And the question is just how much time will I spend on the bike to be fast again.”
