At the tough, rutted Teutschenthal circuit in Germany, Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez put in a gritty performance to take his third podium of the season, on a track that isn’t one of his favourites.

After finishing sixth in the qualification race yesterday, the Spaniard put himself in excellent positions off the start, as his Honda CRF450R rider got round just outside the top three in both races. From there, in race one, he maintained a strong, steady pace on what was proving to be extremely treacherous terrain. Whilst those around him were making mistakes, he kept plugging away, putting in consistent laptimes and eventually ended up in third place.

Given the fact that he’s finished fourth overall on numerous occasions this year, the #70 knew that the battle was only half-won and he still had a lot of work to do to get back to the podium after making the trip there after a victory in Patagonia-Argentina and a third in Spain. Once again, a good start put himself in a great position with just a couple of riders ahead of him but although he was unable to latch on them, he still was pulling away from the rest of the field. With the size of the ruts continuing to grow, momentum was all important but small stalls allowed the rider behind to catch up and with one lap remaining, Fernandez needed to maintain his fourth place in the race to get onto the podium. Putting in one of the best laps of his moto, the #70 withstood all the pressure from the rider in fifth and held on to what was a thoroughly deserved and hard-fought third place overall.

He may have ridden better at other venues without getting on the box, but this showed the determination that Fernandez has, and was just-reward for a season of excellent performances. He now sits just 10 points behind third place in the 2023 MXGP Championship, and with half the season still to race, and plenty of tracks that favour his style, there is the opportunity for many more trips to the podium in this campaign.

Next up is the round in Sumbawa, Indonesia, on June 24-25, where he placed third overall in 2022 on what was the first visit by the GPs to the island. Thousands of fans came out during that weekend and Fernandez will be looking to put on a show for them once again, on the impressive circuit that he thoroughly enjoyed last year.

Ruben Fernandez 70

I’m so glad to be up on the podium as I had to fight hard this weekend to make it happen and I feel like I have deserved to be here after previous performances. It’s funny that this weekend I didn’t really have feeling for the track and yet I’m on the podium and at other venues I’ve felt much better and not made it. Still, it shows that every weekend I am giving myself a chance and that I can’t give up. I did make things a bit harder for myself at the end of the second moto but I held on and it was enough. Big thanks to the whole of Team HRC for supporting me and helping me out because it was a difficult weekend but we kept working hard and I’m looking forward to the small break before we head to Indonesia, which is a track I like.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager - MXGP

We knew coming into this weekend that it would be tough for Ruben, as this isn’t the style of track that he likes. However, he kept his focus throughout all the sessions, trying to improve and putting himself in a position to make it up on the podium. A third in race one was an impressive result and then when he was running in fourth in race two, it maybe wasn’t the cleanest performance but he put his head down and pushed until the very end. This is his third podium of the season and we are very proud of how he’s performed so far, and we are excited for how he’ll do in the second half of the year.

MXGP 2023
Race Round 9   Germany

Race 1

Sunny
Air Temp
25°C
Track Cond
Rutted
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 25 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas 35:40.568
2 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 22 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha 0:02.403
3 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 20 Team HRC - MXGP Honda 0:05.148
4 Coldenhoff Glenn 959 NDL 18 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha 0:08.987
5 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 16 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery KTM 0:11.460
6 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 15 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki 0:21.543
7 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 14 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing Yamaha 0:27.665
8 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 13 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda 0:36.362
9 Evans Mitch 43 AUS 12 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki 0:42.906
10 Koch Tom 226 GER 11 KTM Kosak Team KTM 0:49.613
11 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 10 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda 1:04.267
12 Jacobi Henry 29 GER 9 Wildcard Rider KTM 1:14.916
13 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 8 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta 1:17.092
14 Watson Ben 919 GBR 7 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta 1:18.535
15 Koch Tim 86 GER 6 Wildcard Rider Suzuki 1:20.227
16 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 5 JWR Honda Racing Honda 1:22.731
17 Haavisto Jere FIN 4 1:39.979
18 Spies Maximillian 71 GER 3 KTM Kosak Team KTM 1:47.797
19 Koch Nico 260 GER 2 Wildcard Rider KTM 1:54.053
20 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1:59.875
MXGP 2023
Race Round 9   Germany

Race 2

Sunny
Air Temp
22°C
Track Cond
Rutted
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 25 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas 35:20.753
2 Coldenhoff Glenn 959 NDL 22 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha 0:08.734
3 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 20 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki 0:30.156
4 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 18 Team HRC - MXGP Honda 0:32.916
5 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 16 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha 0:33.538
6 Evans Mitch 43 AUS 15 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki 0:47.974
7 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 14 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery KTM 0:53.546
8 Watson Ben 919 GBR 13 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta 1:03.052
9 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 12 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda 1:08.204
10 Koch Tom 226 GER 11 KTM Kosak Team KTM 1:12.371
11 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 10 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing Yamaha 1:16.566
12 Koch Tim 86 GER 9 Wildcard Rider Suzuki 1:22.616
13 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 8 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda 1:28.888
14 Haavisto Jere FIN 7 1:30.931
15 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 6 JWR Honda Racing Honda 1:36.482
16 Spies Maximillian 71 GER 5 KTM Kosak Team KTM 1:53.578
17 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 4 Wildcard Rider KTM 2:10.376
18 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 3 JK Racing Yamaha Active Yamaha 1 Lap
19 Jacobi Henry 29 GER 2 Wildcard Rider KTM 1 Lap
20 Dickinson Ashton 115 GBR 1 Wildcard Rider KTM 1 Lap
MXGP 2023

Rider standings

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 453 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas
2 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 386 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
3 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 347 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki
4 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 337 Team HRC - MXGP Honda
5 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 320 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
6 Coldenhoff Glenn 959 NDL 304 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
7 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 286 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing Yamaha
8 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 229 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery KTM
9 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 205 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda
10 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 203 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas
11 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 202 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
12 Watson Ben 919 GBR 117 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta
13 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 116 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta
14 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 113 JM Honda Racing Honda
15 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 112 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda
16 Paturel Benoit 6 FRA 109 De Baets Yamaha MX-Team Yamaha
17 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 90 JWR Honda Racing Honda
18 Koch Tom 226 GER 88 KTM Kosak Team KTM
19 Evans Mitch 43 AUS 75 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki
20 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 56 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda
21 Spies Maximillian 71 GER 52 KTM Kosak Team KTM
22 Jacobi Henry GER 29
23 Rubini Stephen 38 FRA 27 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda
24 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 24 JK Racing Yamaha Active Yamaha
25 Roosiorg Hardi 75 EST 23 JWR Honda Racing Honda
26 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 22 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda
27 Haavisto Jere FIN 19
28 Koch Tim 86 GER 15 Wildcard Rider Suzuki
29 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 13 Wildcard Rider KTM
30 Ivanov Michael 97 BUL 11 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
31 Leok Tanel EST 10
32 Goupillon Pierre 57 FRA 10 Wildcard Rider KTM
33 Dickinson Ashton 115 GBR 9 Wildcard Rider KTM
34 Tonus Arnaud SWI 8
35 Sileika Tomass 637 LAT 7 Wildcard Rider GasGas
36 Petrov Petar BUL 7
37 Scheu Mark 991 GER 5 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
38 Lusbo Andero EST 5
39 Poli Joaquin 179 ARG 5 Wildcard Rider Kawasaki
40 Mewse Conrad 426 GBR 4 Wildcard Rider Honda
41 Alberto Paulo POR 4
42 Purdon Tristan 141 RSA 3 Wildcard Rider KTM
43 Malaval Adrien FRA 2
44 Croci Simone 771 ITA 2 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
45 Jazdauskas Domantas 181 LTU 2 Wildcard Rider KTM
46 Koch Nico 260 GER 2 Wildcard Rider KTM
47 Poli Agustin 98 ARG 1 Wildcard Rider Kawasaki
48 Ubach Simeo 724 SPA 1 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
49 Gerhardsson Albin 52 SWE 1 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
50 Van Berkel Lars 107 NDL 1 Wildcard Rider Honda
51 Jasikonis Arminas 2 LTU 1 Wildcard Rider GasGas
52 Clochet Jimmy 520 FRA 0 Wildcard Rider Honda
53 Outeiro Luis 147 POR 0 Wildcard Rider Yamaha
54 Sandner Michael 766 AUT 0 Wildcard Rider KTM
Location Information

Motorsportclub Teutschenthal e.V., Straße des Friedens, Teutschenthal, Germany - View in Google Maps