Fernández returns changed, physically and mentally

New year, new goals. At the dawn of his fourth season in MotoGP, Raúl Fernández knows he must find a way to reassert himself among the most prominent profiles, having slipped into the soft underbelly of the premier category after shaking up the Moto3 peloton , then Moto2 with striking performances.

If he remembers from last season two qualifications on the front row, a few laps at the head of the Barcelona sprint then his sixth place in the Catalan GP, ​​the Spaniard knows that he can do much better. The reorganization of the Aprilia workforce gives him the opportunity, since he is the only one of the new quartet to already have experience of RS-GP and he will finally be able to count on the factory spec, Noale now putting its four motorcycles on an equal footing.

To seize the chance to shine, Fernández wanted to change several things over the winter. The first test of the off-season, two months ago, first allowed him to experiment with changes in his pit (although he kept his chief mechanic), after which he became interested during the break in his training and mental preparation. Physically, he hopes to eradicate the problems that have disturbed him until now, particularly in the forearms; and mentally, he knows that he has probably not had the right approach until now and intends to remedy it.

“This year, I changed things in my life, in my mentality,” he explained to the official MotoGP website when putting on his new leathers during the official presentation of Trackhouse. “I've also tried to make changes on a physical level, and I hope to have no physical problems and be able to be 100% all year round.”

“This winter was quite different for me. I trained a lot, I tried to be very focused on myself, I just thought about myself and not about what others were doing. I changed a bit of mentality and I also changed a lot of things in my training.”

“I really focused on myself. I tried to work a lot on my body. In the last two years I had two arm operations but I wasn't really fit. This winter , I changed personal trainers, I started working with someone else to try to feel well prepared I also worked on my side, on my mentality I tried to remove. all the pressure I put on myself because I am sometimes very ambitious. I worked a lot on that.”

Show your speed, but more often

His credo for 2025? “Do your best and have fun, without thinking about the result.” Despite the arrival of big calibers in the official Aprilia team, and in particular the reigning champion Jorge Martín, the young rider intends not to let himself be parasitized: “I have a lot to learn, that’s for sure, but I’m really going to try to focus on myself, without thinking about who is the benchmark at Aprilia.”

This involves not aiming for a result that could paralyze him, and Davide Brivio is perfectly aware of this. “We expect him to show his potential. There is no doubt that he is fast, he has talent, but last year we saw, I wouldn't say mistakes but a different way of playing. 'to approach the races and the season, what we discussed', explains the main team.

“We tried to sort that out for next season, to avoid that, and I saw this winter Raúl slightly change the way he prepares, his physical training, and also think about the way he approaches the races, so I hope we will see an improvement in the results compared to last year is of course the objective We do not have a numerical objective, the objective is to progress, so it is. acts for Raúl to be more regular. He showed his speed on some occasions but it needs to happen more often.”

In addition to the factory spec which he will have this time, the Madrilenian is aware of what the involvement of Davide Brivio, who arrived last year in February only when Trackhouse had taken over at the stole RNF's place on the grid. This time, things are better framed, giving the pilot what he judges to be “a clear mentality”which has so far failed him.

“For me it's very different to start this season like this and I'm trying to be better, to be 100% mentally, because I think I have the opportunity to do my best and to show what we are capable of, he holds back.

“A mistake I made last year for example, was that in the first part of the year, until Silverstone, we were very close to the top 10, 11th or 12th in the championship I think. had gotten good results and we were trying to do good qualifying, so the start of the year had been very good but once the new bike came I was thinking too much about getting results and from there , the year was very difficult to manage.”

“That's what I'm trying to improve. Davide helps me a lot too, we worked a lot this winter and we're still doing it. I always try to be very positive, I believe a lot in the team, in my staff, that's not the problem. The problem is maybe I want more than what we can get at the moment.”