Raul Fernandez, heroic podium after clearing the air with Bezzecchi: “I’m not here to play”

Fantastic performance by the Spanish rider, despite an injured hand: at Mandalika, he achieved an outstanding result, beaten only by Bezzecchi.

The sprint race had left him disappointed, angry, and with two fractured fingers, but Raul Fernandez was eager to bounce back and did something truly commendable in the MotoGP race in Indonesia. Starting from pole position, he held the lead for several laps before yielding to Marco Bezzecchi and settling for second place—an achievement that today is almost worth as much as a victory. Considering the condition in which he raced, his final result was superb.

Interviewed by DAZN Espana, the SuperFile Trackhouse team rider described how difficult it was to race today at the Mandalika International Circuit: "This morning I woke up thinking that I wouldn’t race. I have no words. I feel that I raced with everything I had and I think it was the hardest race of my life. The problem is that I have a broken finger and I can’t move it. If it hadn’t been for the physiotherapists, I don’t think I would have been able to race. My index finger remained stuck on the bike and I braked with my middle finger. My reference points were terrible, I wasn’t braking properly, and I was running a little wide. The rear tire was wearing out. That’s the only negative aspect I can find".

While he had managed to cope with the problem in his right hand during the first part of the race, at a certain point everything became more complicated. In any case, Fernandez far exceeded even the rosiest expectations: "With 13 or 14 laps to go, I couldn’t take it anymore. I made many mistakes and was not consistent at all. I tried to survive. I never even remotely thought I could finish on the podium".

After the contact with Bezzecchi that took both of them out at the first corner of the sprint race, Fernandez had another tense moment with his Aprilia colleague. At the end of Warm Up, the rider from Rimini lightly bumped into him from behind, and the Madrid-born rider became somewhat irritated.

Raul had the opportunity to comment on what happened and confirmed that a meeting had taken place, also involving Massimo Rivola (CEO of Aprilia Racing), Fabiano Sterlacchini (Aprilia Racing technical director), and Davide Brivio (Trackhouse Racing team principal), to resolve the situation with Bezzecchi: "This morning he wanted to play around, and I told him that if he wanted to play, we would play. But it isn’t worth it. We are two people who will remain at Aprilia, and we need to project a better image next year. After the warm-up, we had a meeting with Massimo, Fabiano, and Davide. I was clear and told them that I had not come here to play games with anyone. Things calmed down among everyone". We will see whether other tense episodes between the two will occur in the future: Aprilia certainly hopes not, as they are unnecessary.