Fernandez claims podium pace at MotoGP Austrian GP

Despite one of his strongest race showings of the season, Raul Fernandez cut a surprisingly disappointed figure after the sprint at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday.

The Trackhouse Aprilia rider believed he had the pace to challenge for a top-three position, but was forced to retire from sixth place when his ride-height device stuck in place.

Fernandez’s steadily improving form has hit a new level since the last race in the Czech Republic, where he qualified sixth and finished the grand prix fifth.

Despite lining up only ninth for the sprint at Spielberg, the Spaniard made a strong start and ran fifth before being demoted one spot by KTM’s Brad Binder. Yet he was not satisfied despite another reminder of the clear strides taken since a dire start to the season.

“It’s difficult when you start the season so badly and race by race you feel [more] comfortable and you feel that you are improving a lot… to see that you are fifth in the sprint and you have some problems is not really nice.

“We knew before starting the sprint that we had the pace to fight for the podium. So [that] was the target. I made a really good start, and when I saw that the start was good, I tried to push more, to try to close the gap with [factory Aprilia rider] Marco Bezzecchi because I think in this race the pace was quite… lap by lap I feel that the pace was almost the same.”

Fernandez’s best race lap was just over a tenth slower than that of Bezzecchi. He was the sixth-fastest rider by that metric.

Despite Saturday’s disappointment, Fernandez is looking ahead to a Sunday on which he will race a rear tyre he prefers over the soft compound used in the sprint.

“I will take the positives – the potential that we have and the race pace that we have for tomorrow,” he said. “It will be interesting to see if it’s dry because I think I feel even more comfortable with the medium rear. I am not really happy but I think we can take really good positives for tomorrow.”

Fernandez also confirmed that it was a ride-height device issue that began to compromise his race from the fifth lap, shortly after which Binder relieved him of fifth place. The issue ultimately led to his lap-nine retirement after the device stuck for good.