Fernandez: I need to improve grip on the last part to win against Gardner

A new Moto2 lap record around Sachsenring saw Raul Fernandez take his third pole position of 2021. 

Q2 was a close affair between Fernandez, team-mate Remy Gardner and Fabio Di Giannantonio initially, until the Spaniard put a second set of new tyres on. 

A lap time of 1:23.397s in the final stages from Fernandez was good enough to pull a stunning three tenths clear of Di Giannantonio.  

Speaking about his third pole in just his rookie season, Fernandez said: "I’m really happy to do again another pole position. Before the qualifying the goal was to be in the first round (row). 

"I think in this moment my team bring me the experience in a difficult moment, because they say to me that in qualifying we can use two sets of tyres and this was possible to make the pole position. 

"I want to see tomorrow what happened because Remy [Gardner] is really strong, but at the end we will see."

The last three Moto2 races have been dominated by both Gardner and Fernandez, who have begun to separate themselves from the rest in terms of championship points. 

But in Mugello and Catalunya, it was better tyre conservation from the more experienced Australian which saw him come out victorious - an area Fernandez knows is key to today’s race.

The 20 year-old added: "To win against Remy, I need to improve a little bit the grip on the last part of the race. 

"In the last two races I had a problem with the front tyre. I think this weekend we work too much (a lot) on this aspect and we will see. 

"In Portugal I was really, really strong, and also in France with the used tyre."