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 18^th, 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.