Unfortunate Fernandez shows speed at the MXGP of Spain

Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez was involved in a first-turn pile-up, robbing the home rider of any chance of a good qualification race result at this MXGP of Spain. As the rain fell on this Lugo circuit, the #70 tried his best to come through the field, but on a track where passing was extremely difficult, he was only able to manage to come back to 15^th and will now have an outside gate-pick for the motos tomorrow.

Knowing that the start would be crucial, the CRF450R rider gave himself the best opportunity by posting a blistering laptime in timed practice, giving him third gate-pick and a real chance to carry on his good form and run up front in this MXGP class. Unfortunately, those hopes came to end as he got squeezed around the first corner and found himself with bumps and bruises as he picked up his machine. Determined to try and recoup as many positions as possible, he put his head down and put in laptimes, matching the leaders of the race. However, on a slippery track that was very difficult to pass on, the Spaniard could only fight back to 15^th place, giving him an outside chance of a good start in tomorrow’s GP-scoring races.

Ferruccio Zanchi has been well aware of how important starts can be, as the young Italian has struggled to get out of the gate this year. This was partly due to his timed practice results, which then had the domino effect of not giving him a good gate-pick for the qualification races, which then didn’t allow him to race at the front of the field. Today, he put all that right, getting third in timed practice and then ripping a good start on his Honda CRF250R. The #73 was inside the top five for the entire race, and finished in fifth place, his best result since he won the first moto of the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha. This will give him a big boost of confidence heading into tomorrow where he has the chance at another podium in Spain.

Teammate Valerio Lata didn’t have the best of days, struggling to really find his groove on this loamy circuit and not managing to get close to the top five battles. Tenth in timed practice was followed on by a 10^th in the qualification race, as he was a victim of not getting a good start and not being able to move through the field. There are definitely improvements to be made, but the start is proving to be crucial and if the #18 can get off the line well, he can definitely keep his good recent run of results going.

There is more rain forecast tomorrow, but the Lugo circuit is holding up well and could actually do with a bit of water to create some more lines for these world championship riders to utilise. All three know that the gate-drop is the main focus and while they’ll be at various positions along the grid, they will all be raring to go for both GP races.