The 2023 MXGP season started with Ruben Fernández taking the spotlight, especially at Honda due to the absence of Tim Gajser, the previous year’s world champion. However, the rider, who easily took on that responsibility, went from winning one round to scoring zero points in the next.
Reflecting on the first two rounds of the year, in a conversation with the team on his YouTube channel, the Spanish rider recalled the start of the championship in Argentina: ‘I didn’t feel pressure being the only rider at Team HRC, since Tim was injured. I approached it as always: going to the races to do my best, to have the best performance possible, and this time it wasn’t different. I felt good going into the first round and knew I could have a good result there and even fight for the win. That’s the mindset I had and it went well, exactly like that, and everything was very normal, so to speak.’.
After the success in the opening round of the championship, the result was completely the opposite in Italy:
– In the second round in Riola Sardo, I knew it would be difficult, it has very deep sand, the dunes. I wasn’t riding too badly, so to speak, and on Friday I felt I was at a good level but I had many crashes, especially during the morning, and I also crashed on the first lap of both races and that ruined my GP, and I was disappointed: going from a win to not scoring any points in my second GP.
