Despite his recent injuries, Raul Fernandez is determined to take part in the Buriram tests. The Spanish rider, who suffered a heavy crash in Sepang and underwent surgery, has arrived in Thailand to get back behind the handlebars of his Aprilia RS-GP. But what is his state of mind?
Raul fernandez is preparing to resume testing in Buriram after a dramatic crash in Sepang. He is determined to take part in the MotoGP tests in Thailand despite an injury sustained last week. The rider TrackHouse Aprilia suffered fractures to left hand and foot on the first day of testing in Sepang, but after undergoing surgery in Barcelona he returned to Asia for this final pre-season test.
« I am lucky to be here ", said Fernandez in Buriram this Tuesday. After the crash, I returned immediately to Spain. I really appreciate what Dr. Xavier Mir did because I landed in Barcelona and he had everything prepared for the operation. And that's why I'm here today. He helped me a lot » Fernandez added that the accident happened only a week ago, which required a quick response. The accident happened only a week ago, so everything had to be done quickly. I had to go to Europe, have an operation and come back. It wasn't easy, but we're here »
While George Martin, his distinguished colleague at Aprilia, is also injured since Sepang, Fernandez and his team will have to make up for lost track time with the RS-GP25. It's important for me, it's important for the team and also for Aprilia. We need this test ", highlighted Fernandez.
Regarding the first tests on the motorcycle, Raul Fernandez specified: " I need more information because The first impression of the bike was very good. I was happy with the work done by Aprilia this winter. But it was only 25-30 laps, so we don't have enough information to create a basic setup. That's why I'm here. I'm not going to think about lap times, I'm not going to think about anything else but focusing on myself, trying to know the bike, improve it and prepare something good for the race »
Raul Fernandez: “ I can only say that I was lucky »
He also spoke about the bizarre accident that took place at Turn 9, where he lost control of his bike moments after touching the brakes. What happened? I can't say much. I don't want to think too much about the accident. ", he explained. It was one of the biggest accidents of my life, so I can only say that I was lucky. I was on the bike and a few seconds later I remember I was on the ground. And that's all. »
Regarding his injuries, Fernandez said that the foot (which did not require surgery) caused him more pain than the hand. My hand is more or less fine, the problem comes from the foot “, he said on crash.net. " I also have a lot of pain in my leg muscles and back. I was upright and had an accident immediately. I wasn't inclined, so the impact was quite significant »
The test of Buriram begins tomorrow, Wednesday, and continues until Thursday. In the absence of Martin, the new recruit at the Noale factory, Marco Bezzecchi, was the fastest RS-GP driver at Sepang, finishing in 9th place in the ranking.
