Team HRC – MXGP
MXGP 2023
Race Round 8   Latvia

Mixed results for Fernandez at a rain-hit MXGP of Latvia

After a third in race one, Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez just-about survived the treacherous conditions in race two to finish 18th, giving him ninth overall for this MXGP of Latvia, when a podium looked the likely outcome for most of the weekend.

In the qualification race yesterday, the Honda CRF450R rider performed extremely well to get a third place, grabbing the holeshot and keeping a strong pace. That result gave him an excellent gate-pick for today’s motos which is important due to the layout of the first turn at the Kegums circuit, where the inside gates have a distinct advantage.

In the first moto, he used this position to almost grab another holeshot but he was just beaten around the first turn. In the usual chaos of the first lap, he dropped down one more place but soon settled into a fast rhythm, matching the riders in front. As the laps ticked off, Fernandez maintained his third position, which is where he stayed as he crossed the line, setting himself up nicely for the second moto.

In between the races, a deluge of rain hit the sandy circuit and although everything was still rideable, the hard-pack sand turned into a much more slippery and trickier surface that caused numerous riders’ problems. Unfortunately, Fernandez was one of them of as he had to bail from his bike on the big step-up in the back of the track midway through the moto, whilst running fifth. When remounting he discovered that work needed to be done to repair some damage so he pulled into the pits to allow his mechanics to go to work. Quickly and efficiently, they got the #70 back in the race, giving him a chance to recoup a few points before the chequered flag.

It wasn’t the ending that the Spaniard was looking for, as he missed out on the podium and lost some valuable points in the championship standings but thankfully, he is physically okay after the incident and will be hoping to make amends when he lines up in Teutschenthal, Germany next weekend for the ninth round of this 2023 MXGP World Championship.

Ruben Fernandez 70

A very disappointing end to what was looking like a good weekend. I had a good first moto, riding a clean consistent race for third place and I was excited for the second moto. Unfortunately in between the races, there was a lot of rain and that changed the track a bit, but I still was in a good fifth position, for a long time in the race. Then I had a big incident on the step-up which meant that I had to pull into the pits. I was able to re-join the race and came back into the points but that’s not what I was hoping for when I arrived here. A big thanks to the team for all their work and I hope to get back to where I belong in Germany next weekend.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager - MXGP

It was a shame that Ruben wasn’t able to finish off the weekend because a podium was looking really likely after the first moto. He has been looking really good these past few weeks and this track suited his style so we were really hopeful to see him up on the box again, but when the conditions are this bad, these kinds of things can happen and we are glad he is okay after the incident. I am also pleased with the team who were able to get him back on the racetrack afterwards, enabling him to score some points, which can be crucial in the championship standings.

MXGP 2023
Race Round 8   Latvia

Race 1

Cloudy
Air Temp
13°C
Track Cond
Hard Sand
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 35:11.973
2 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 22 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas 0:07.706
3 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 20 Team HRC - MXGP Honda 0:20.582
4 Coldenhoff Glenn 959 NDL 18 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha 0:23.630
5 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 16 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing Yamaha 0:25.870
6 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 15 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki 0:28.722
7 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 14 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha 0:29.871
8 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 13 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery KTM 0:51.219
9 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 12 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda 1:05.615
10 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 11 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta 1:30.645
11 Watson Ben 919 GBR 10 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta 1:34.855
12 Jacobi Henry 29 GER 9 Wildcard Rider KTM 1:37.625
13 Haavisto Jere FIN 8 1:38.692
14 Koch Tom 226 GER 7 KTM Kosak Team KTM 1:41.383
15 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 6 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda 1:45.637
16 Spies Maximillian 71 GER 5 KTM Kosak Team KTM 1:53.951
17 Evans Mitch 43 AUS 4 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki 2:07.394
18 Roosiorg Hardi 75 EST 3 JWR Honda Racing Honda 2:13.973
19 Leok Tanel 140 EST 2 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna 1 Lap
20 Lusbo Andero 62 EST 1 Wildcard Rider GasGas 1 Lap
MXGP 2023
Race Round 8   Latvia

Race 2

Wet
Air Temp
13°C
Track Cond
Wet Sand
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 35:18.867
2 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 22 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki 0:04.972
3 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 20 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas 0:19.776
4 Coldenhoff Glenn 959 NDL 18 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha 0:37.993
5 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 16 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha 0:46.222
6 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 15 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery KTM 1:08.090
7 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 14 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing Yamaha 1:19.129
8 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 13 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda 1:34.718
9 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 12 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta 1:35.412
10 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 11 JWR Honda Racing Honda 1:37.128
11 Evans Mitch 43 AUS 10 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki 2:11.406
12 Spies Maximillian 71 GER 9 KTM Kosak Team KTM 2:14.969
13 Leok Tanel 140 EST 8 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna 2:30.074
14 Sileika Tomass 637 LAT 7 Wildcard Rider GasGas 1 Lap
15 Roosiorg Hardi 75 EST 6 JWR Honda Racing Honda 1 Lap
16 Koch Tom 226 GER 5 KTM Kosak Team KTM 1 Lap
17 Lusbo Andero 62 EST 4 Wildcard Rider GasGas 1 Lap
18 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 3 Team HRC - MXGP Honda 1 Lap
19 Jazdauskas Domantas 181 LTU 2 Wildcard Rider KTM 1 Lap
20 Gerhardsson Albin 52 SWE 1 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna 5 Laps
MXGP 2023

Rider standings

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 393 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas
2 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 378 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
3 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 306 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki
4 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 294 Team HRC - MXGP Honda
5 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 273 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
6 Coldenhoff Glenn 959 NDL 260 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
7 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 260 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing Yamaha
8 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 203 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas
9 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 202 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
10 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 191 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery KTM
11 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 181 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda
12 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 113 JM Honda Racing Honda
13 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 112 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda
14 Paturel Benoit 6 FRA 109 De Baets Yamaha MX-Team Yamaha
15 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 108 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta
16 Watson Ben 919 GBR 97 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta
17 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 79 JWR Honda Racing Honda
18 Koch Tom 226 GER 66 KTM Kosak Team KTM
19 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 56 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda
20 Evans Mitch 43 AUS 47 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki
21 Spies Maximillian 71 GER 44 KTM Kosak Team KTM
22 Rubini Stephen 38 FRA 27 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda
23 Roosiorg Hardi 75 EST 23 JWR Honda Racing Honda
24 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 21 JK Racing Yamaha Active Yamaha
25 Jacobi Henry GER 18
26 Ivanov Michael 97 BUL 11 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
27 Leok Tanel EST 10
28 Goupillon Pierre 57 FRA 10 Wildcard Rider KTM
29 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 9 Wildcard Rider KTM
30 Tonus Arnaud SWI 8
31 Haavisto Jere FIN 8
32 Dickinson Ashton 115 GBR 8 Wildcard Rider KTM
33 Sileika Tomass 637 LAT 7 Wildcard Rider GasGas
34 Petrov Petar BUL 7
35 Scheu Mark 991 GER 5 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
36 Lusbo Andero EST 5
37 Poli Joaquin 179 ARG 5 Wildcard Rider Kawasaki
38 Mewse Conrad 426 GBR 4 Wildcard Rider Honda
39 Alberto Paulo POR 4
40 Purdon Tristan 141 RSA 3 Wildcard Rider KTM
41 Malaval Adrien FRA 2
42 Croci Simone 771 ITA 2 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
43 Jazdauskas Domantas 181 LTU 2 Wildcard Rider KTM
44 Poli Agustin 98 ARG 1 Wildcard Rider Kawasaki
45 Van Berkel Lars 107 NDL 1 Wildcard Rider Honda
46 Ubach Simeo 724 SPA 1 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
47 Gerhardsson Albin 52 SWE 1 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
48 Jasikonis Arminas 2 LTU 1 Wildcard Rider GasGas
49 Clochet Jimmy 520 FRA 0 Wildcard Rider Honda
50 Outeiro Luis 147 POR 0 Wildcard Rider Yamaha
51 Sandner Michael 766 AUT 0 Wildcard Rider KTM
Location Information

Zelta Zirgs mototrase, Rembates pagasts, Ķegums Municipality, Latvia - View in Google Maps

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