Augusto Fernández and his “lack of understanding” with his technical team

2024-07-17 12:17:45

Augusto Fernández is about to become the new victim of the weakness of the MotoGP World Championship. The 26-year-old rider is currently without a team for 2025, barring a miracle or a last-minute agreement with PRAMAC and Yamaha, who was the Moto2 world champion just two years ago. He will have to say goodbye to his short career in MotoGP and look for a future in another hole, maybe that’s the Superbike World Championship.

With only 15 points added in the first half of the season, things haven’t been easy for Madrid since Pedro Acosta joined the GASGAS team either; Your garage neighbor has scored 110 points in this same period, which shows the competitiveness of RC16 which does not fully work in the hands of Augusto, certainly uncomfortable with the situation in which he is inside his box.

Fernández has provided an extensive interview on the German portal Speedweek.com in which he tells the horror he is suffering this year; Augusto admits that “in a difficult situation”although the worst was at the beginning of the season: “It was more difficult, it was a hard blow, but now I’m getting stronger to face the rest of the season“, says Augusto who must take advantage of the upcoming races”secure a future” although it continues “not feeling well” on the KTM.

After 2023 when we saw some glimpses of the best Augusto Fernández – in Le Mans he was just short of the podium – the Spanish driver was confident of taking a step forward this year, a progress that has not come and gone to an end at last. forcing him to leave the Tech 3 team at the end of this campaign.

According to Augusto, discussions with KTM to continue within its structure “they were open to Mugello”, and one day before Tech 3 announced the arrival of Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini to the French team, the Madrid driver found out that his continuity in Tech 3 had ended: “The day before the announcement was made they called my father and told him.”

During his interview with Speedweek, Augusto tries to be politically correct about the treatment he has received from Tech 3 and KTM over the past two years; acknowledges, on behalf of Hervé Poncharal’s team, “They gave everything, we didn’t understand each other,” urging that “can’t complain” of the support he has received from the French team to improve his results.

It is what Augustus points to lack of apparent connection with the person sitting next to him in the box, its technical director, Alex Merhand, a professional who previously worked with Remy Gardner after being a strategy engineer within Tech 3 between 2020 and 2021.

“Every driver needs their technician,” The Spaniard insists. “If you look at the top drivers, Everyone has their technician and they take them everywhere with them. “This is very important because everything nowadays in MotoGP is very tight and every tenth counts.”

Augusto dates back to 2022, when he became Moto2 world champion alongside Máximo Branchini, with whom he established a great professional relationship: “At Marc VDS I wasn’t with the people and it was a disaster. And then I changed teams again, I met Máximo Branchini and we became world champions!! From year to yearo”, exclaims bib number #37.

Fernández admits he has a feeling “Be going through the same thing a bit” after trying to advance everything, always find a wall that prevents it from moving forward: “I try everything, we try different things, but ultimately it’s a matter of details. In MotoGP if you are eight tenths behind, you are nobody. Half a second leaves you out of the top 10, and then you have nobody. “There are a lot of details to consider, and we don’t do them well.”Augusto emphasizes.

Also read: Pedro Acosta and his signature truncated by Valentino Rossi’s team

The Spanish rider did not hesitate to express this lack of connection with his technical team to the majority of KTM; assures that in Mattighofen ““They are aware of this lack of understanding, but before I could take action on the matter, they let me go,” So Augusto’s situation will not change until the end of the year, and he will have to face the second part of this season with the same team around him.