Survival Sunday for Raul Fernandez with 12th in #DutchGP, DNF for Oliveira
The Cathedral of Speed was once more a spectacular host for incredible racing in scorching conditions today. Yet, the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team goes into the summer break with ambivalent sensations. Although Miguel Oliveira had a fantastic start, he couldn’t finish the race. Raul Fernandez meanwhile could benefit and bring home his best result of the year so far in the main Race.
Starting from P16 on the grid, Fernandez lost one position in the chaotic first lap and came back in P17. He then built a steady rhythm and was already inside the points scoring positions with P15. From there the Spaniard moved forward strongly, making his way up to the top 10 on the eighth lap of 26. On the tenth lap he unfortunately made a mistake, that threw him back to the end of the field with 2.5 seconds to the second last rider. Step by step, he made up ground again, managed to benefit from several DNFs in front of him and eventually crossed the line in P12, his best main Race result so far with the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team.
On the other side, Oliveira made a rocket start. He lined up in P11 on the grid, but came away with sixth after the first corners. The Portuguese had to try his best to conserve his energy as his left shoulder still gives him a lot of pain, especially in the fast changes of direction at the TT Circuit in Assen. He lost one position in the course of the first laps, but was pushing forward. Unluckily, after 12 laps, Oliveira returned to the garage and retired as he couldn’t hold onto his machine.
Now, the entire CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team is heading into a five weeks well-deserved summer break, until the action returns with the remaining 12 rounds of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship beginning with Silverstone.
RAUL FERNANDEZ
I have to admit, that I was stupid. I felt super good with the bike today. Yesterday, we have been working on the electronic and I did a mistake in turn 11. I think I lost my race there. Sometimes, I think I am too ambitious and today, when I saw that we were catching the front group with Marini, Marquez, Nakagami and Miguel, I thought, today is the day and in that moment, I did a mistake. I didn’t crash, but I went straight and lost many seconds. Then I tried to come back to gather more experience and information on this bike and at least finished 12th. I need to say sorry to the team and Aprilia! But I am still happy, because the last three races, we saw that we are getting there. Sometimes, I just need to be calmer. Now we have a summer break. I will get some fresh air and try to come back stronger.
MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
I had a good start in today’s race, I recovered a few positions and was close to P5. But I was already struggling a lot, the bike had a few issues that forced it to be unpredictable on the brakes. So, after a couple of laps, it was really hard for me to just keep going even if I was slower. It is very frustrating and a shame, because we wanted to go into the summer break with a decent result, at least in the points, which today was possible to even make some good points. Anyway, we need to look at these three races as a bonus since I am not 100% and still in recovery, this was already a victory that I could get more time with the team to get to know each other better and make a couple of Sunday races which was good. Also, we collected information for myself and the team and now it’s time to recalibrate for the second half of the season