This Sunday in Motegi, Raúl Fernández was the last to score points but admitted to be very concerned about Aprilia’s overall performance, as in general all riders with the RS-GP struggled, especially in terms of grip and pace.
The rider who renewed with Trackhouse Racing a few weeks ago started by analyzing his race like this: ‘Very difficult race for us, without grip. It’s an area to improve’.
He then explained that he ends up having no arguments to try to fight for a position after being overtaken: ‘In the race we had no grip but everyone was also struggling. I didn’t start well, I lost three or four seconds with Aleix [Espargaró] and I was like that the whole race, and it’s been like that all races: some rider overtakes me and in the end we have nothing [to respond]’.
If he improved from Friday to Sunday’s race, Fernández clarified that yes, but he was worried because the bike doesn’t respond well to the use of the soft tire:
– We improved a lot but I don’t know why, when it comes time to go to the race our pace is very slow, in general at Aprilia. We need to find a solution for the future and understand why. In the time attack and in the Sprint with the soft tire we are strong but then when we have to use the medium we are very slow. We are not competitive and we can’t fight for a good position.