Raúl Fernández had a challenging race at the MotoGP Thai Grand Prix, finishing in 15th place. However, he was satisfied and encouraged by the potential, believing that he could have achieved a considerably better result if it weren’t for issues related to the high temperatures.
The Spaniard said the race started well but ended up encountering challenging conditions as the laps went on: ‘Well, honestly the first part was really, really good. I started very well, I fought with Fabio [Quartararo]. I saw the podium there, but honestly we didn’t have the pace to do it, but I had the pace to do fifth/sixth, something like this. But honestly we have to improve. We have to improve from Aprilia’s side because like this we cannot race honestly’.
Fernández considered retirement, as he revealed himself: ‘I did ten/11 laps more or less good, after that I started to feel bad and the last five laps I felt very, very bad. I was close to stop the race, but by respect for the team, by respect for Aprilia that today had a really good bike, I said: «OK, if I’m in the points I will end the race, 100%. If not, I will think to stop». But honestly we took one point. That’s not what we expected’.
Despite asking help from Aprilia, the #25 clarified that the problem did not lie in the competitiveness of the motorcycle but rather in the inability to get fresh air: ‘I’m happy because I have the potential, I feel good, I can ride like I want. Since a lot of time I didn’t feel like this on the bike, but we need a little bit of help from Aprilia because like this we cannot to continue. We need to do something on the bike because at the end we cannot take some fresh air. It’s super difficult. When you are on the straight you try to relax, you try to get some fresh air to relax the body, but it’s impossible because when you take air it’s super hot. You cannot imagine. It’s a disaster’.