Soul-searching for Raul Fernandez: “I have to come back with a fresh mentality”
A sore Raul Fernandez scored his best MotoGP result of the season at COTA but admitted he must control his mistakes.
Raul Fernandez took his best finish of the MotoGP season so far with twelfth place in Sunday’s COTA round.
But the Trackhouse rider pledged to do some soul-searching after an unforced error in qualifying led to him carrying a shoulder injury for the grand prix.
Fernandez was launched from his Aprilia when his rear wheel dropped over the kerb at Turn 10 on his opening flying lap of Qualifying 1.
Damage to the air fence brought out red flags, which at least allowed Fernandez time to return, but he was left just 19th on the grid.
That became a lowly 17th in the Sprint before the Spaniard salvaged points in the grand prix, aided by mistakes for riders ahead.
Despite the result, Fernandez was blunt in his assessment.
“I need to be calmer”
“I’m happy with the bike, like always. But I still need to be calmer,” Fernandez said.
“I made a lot of mistakes and also the mistake I made [in qualifying] didn’t help because in the last six laps, I didn’t feel good with my shoulder.
“Anyway, I need to improve, try to be more relaxed and try to think more about what I have to do.
“Right now, I feel the bike is ready, I can ride like I want, we have the pace and everything is ready, but I make a lot of mistakes in tricky situations. I would like to improve that for the future.”
“I cannot make this kind of mistake”
Analysing his big qualifying crash, at the Trackhouse team’s home event, Fernandez didn’t try and sugar coat the error.
“I cannot make this kind of mistake. Since I arrived in the world championship, I never crashed in the first lap of a qualifying. So I take responsibility,” he said.
“What I need is to be calm in difficult situations. It's not an excuse, but I had some bad luck because I put the rear tyre on the green and there was a wet patch.
“But this kind of mistake cannot happen in the first lap of a qualifying. It’s not good for me or the team.”
“I have to come back with a fresh mentality”
Now in his fourth MotoGP season, and third on an Aprilia, Fernandez accepts he needs to ‘come back with a fresh mentality’.
“I have to think about a solution to come back with a fresh mentality as I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself and I should find something to help myself,” he said.
“This year I have the bike, I have the team, I have the experience. Maybe the ambition doesn't help me.”
Fernandez, who will continue working with a sports psychologist, dismissed suggestions that pressure from rookie team-mate Ai Ogura and fellow Aprilia newcomer Marco Bezzecchi was affecting him.
“It’s not because Ogura is doing a good job, or Marco, or maybe Jorge [Martin] when he comes back," he said.
"It's just because I want to show to myself, not to someone else, that I am here and I can do it.
“I need to work, but it is nothing about the bike.”
While Fernandez sits 18th in the world championship with five points, Ogura - despite a disqualification in Argentina - holds sixth with 25 points, while Bezzecchi is eighth with 24.
In terms of crashes this season, Bezzecchi and Honda's Joan Mir have hit the ground most with five falls each. Pedro Acosta, Fermin Aldeguer and Johann Zarco have three with Fernandez, Ogura, Marc Marquez and Jack Miller on two each.
Reigning champion Jorge Martin is aiming to make his Aprilia debut at the next round in Qatar.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
