Fernandez scores fantastic 5th place in #ValenciaGP, Savadori 13th

The script for the final race of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship could have barely been written any better for the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team and Raul Fernandez. In front of his friends and family he scored his best ever result in the premier class yet with an amazing fifth position. Lorenzo Savadori, who took over for the injured Miguel Oliveira made it into the points as well and scores three with P13.

Starting from 10th position at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Fernandez came away decently and in P11 after lap one. He was fighting with last weeks’ race winner Fabio di Giannantonio and then made up some places due to crashes in front. With eight laps to go, the Spaniard was in eighth position and passed Aprilia colleague Maverick Viñales on the soft rear tyre with five laps to go for P7. He managed to catch even Aleix Espargaro with two laps on the clock and made another great move on the last lap to come home in fifth position, his best result in the MotoGP World Championship so far, finishing off the season on a high.

On the other side of the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team garage, Oliveira couldn’t take part in the final round after he broke his right scapula last weekend in Qatar, but Aprilia test rider Savadori took over his Aprilia RS-GP for the weekend, did some testing and at the same time showed progress. From starting last in P21, the Italian did a solid race. He kept his head down and just went on to see the flag after a lot of drama happening in front of him. Savadori crossed the finish line in P13, scoring three points.

The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team concludes the MotoGP World Championship 2023 in eighth place of the team standings.

RAUL FERNANDEZ

It was a fantastic race, I fought with both the Aprilia factory riders, Maverick (Viñales) and Aleix (Espargaro), and came out the top Aprilia today and that was great. The problem is I always want something more and I saw the podium right there in front. But anyway, I’m really happy with the pace and with what I feel at the end. It was amazing what we did. I would like to thank everyone that has helped me to improve as a rider. It was a difficult year for me, we worked very hard all the season and with that fantastic result, it’s something good to start 2024 in the best way possible.

LORENZO SAVADORI

The first part of the race was not so bad because I was able to fight and stay with Takaaki (Nakagami) and Alex (Rins), but after 10 laps, I started to struggle a lot with the front, but I knew I needed to finish the race as I am testing new parts on the bike, so I reduced my speed a bit. There were a lot of crashes in front and the temperature went down during the race and it was quite a tricky condition. But after that, it was not so bad. At the moment, we need to improve and work more on the 2024 bike for it to be ready for Sepang. But in general, my speed was good and it’s nice to take three points this weekend.