Riola Sardo proves a tough test for Fernandez

After an impressive sixth place in yesterday’s qualification race, Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez had a much tougher time of things in the GP races of the MXGP of Sardegna, making mistakes early-on while well-placed and struggling to break into the top 10.

Two good starts gave Fernandez the chance to repeat yesterday’s results at this tough, deep, dune-sand circuit in Riola Sardo, but crashes really cost him any chance of scoring a decent points haul and maintaining his second-place in the 2023 MXGP World Championship standings.

In the first race, he was battling with the top riders just inside the top 10 and looking to move forward, but just as things were going well, he crashed in the same spot as in the qualification race and dropped way down the field. As he was working his back way through, a collision with another rider meant that he had to pull off due to contact on his left-hand. It was a disappointing way to end the moto but it meant that he had plenty of energy to burn on this tough terrain in race two.

Once again, a good start saw him round the second corner in fourth place and he was fighting hard to maintain that position amongst the best motocross riders on the planet. Unfortunately, for a third time, he made a mistake in the turn after the pitlane and ended up dead last. Knowing that he had a lot of work to do to get some good points, he set about charging through the field, picking off riders at regular intervals and moving his way up the table. With a couple of laps remaining he had got up to 15^th place, which was a decent effort but the Spaniard wasn’t done there, overtaking four riders in the last two laps to finish 11^th. It wasn’t the place he wanted, but it was still a good recovery and showed he does have speed in the sand, a surface he admits isn’t his favourite.

So after his victory in Patagonia-Argentina in round one, and this tough test in Sardinia for round two, the Honda CRF450R rider sits in seventh place in championship. It’s still a good start for Fernandez and he’ll be expecting to be back fighting for podium positions at the next round in Frauenfeld, Switzerland which should be more like the terrain that he enjoys riding.