2023-11-17 22:12:37
He has been the protagonist of Friday outside the offices and it is no wonder. Raúl Fernández has achieved the best time on the Losail circuit, host this weekend of the Qatar Grand Prix. The Spaniard has been in the top positions throughout the day on Friday, being the clear reference on the grid.
He was less than a tenth away from the track record (1:52.772), but his 1:52.843 was more than enough for us to have him as one of the drivers to take into consideration this weekend. With a very competitive pace both on a lap and in race simulation, that of San Martín de la Vega has had no apparent rival.
At the end of the day on Friday, the Spaniard spoke to the press and pointed out that he will enjoy this result, but he assures that it is not the real position given the performance of the last Grand Prix: “I don’t really understand how or why. I don’t understand it, I’m happy. Since the morning we have been very fast, no matter the rubber, the track temperature or the conditions. I don’t understand it and it surprises all of us Aprilia riders. I think it has been important to finish a day like this, it is not easy with the season we have had. “Achieving something like this for me, the team and Aprilia is important.”
The RNF Racing driver has pointed out that it will be positive to be strong on those circuits where they are currently suffering the most, which will mean that they are evolving with the RS-GP. For this reason, he has commented that they will continue working as they do until now: “It’s a matter of work and continuing to work like this. I trust Aprilia and my team a lot, I continue trying to ask for more help for next year from them.”
The poor results of the last Malaysian Grand Prix have been essential for Noale to change their mentality and get to work to solve all their problems as soon as possible, although they assure that their goal is to be among the top ten and not be fighting for the position. championship: “It seems that after Sepang they are doing it and I hope we are more consistent. We are not here to win a World Cup, far from it. What happened today is not entirely real, the goal is to be in the top 10 and that is the goal for next year.”
“I think that today Ducati has been far away and tomorrow they will be” stated the #25, who was quick to recognize that the results obtained on Friday in Qatar will not be what we will see in the next few days, in which he hopes that Ducati will appear again in the leading positions: “If we are smart and work we can take a step. If they improve and we do too, we will work to maintain the gap. When Aprilia has the opportunity and we have the bike that works, we give it our all and we are on the podium.”
The situation experienced in Sepang was critical, something that made the Spanish driver quick to demand more help from the team. Now, it seems that Italy has started to work to solve this situation and recover the lost ground: “I ask Aprilia for more help to evolve all together. The key to Ducati is to have four official (bikes) and I’m not asking for an official one because I need to work hard to deserve it. I think they can use us as guinea pigs, that will be important for the next two or three years. What I ask is that they use us to reach Ducati’s level.”
The words of Miguel Oliveira’s teammate were a blow of reality for the Aprilia leadership, something that, as they have conveyed to the Spaniard, will help them to be back in the leading positions: “I thought they would tell me off, Sunday was bad and they were not the appropriate ways to ask for help. I arrived here and Massimo Rivola wrote to me to talk and it was to ask for my forgiveness. He gave me to understand that Aprilia really had to make a change for next year because it was not normal for the motorcycle to break so much and we had so many problems.”concluded Raúl Fernández.
#understand #change