Raul Fernandez Escapes First Turn Chaos to Finish 12th at Silverstone MotoGP Sprint

Raul Fernandez considers himself "very fortunate to avoid" the crash that happened at the first turn.

Raul Fernandez said, "I was extremely fortunate to steer clear of the crash at the initial corner and escape unscathed."

Raul Fernandez successfully dodged the initial corner collision involving Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi during the MotoGP sprint at Silverstone.

Morbidelli collided with another Ducati rider, causing a crash at the first turn, while Fernandez was among the riders who avoided the incident.

Competing for Aprilia, the racer piloted the newly upgraded RS-GP24 motorcycle for the first time this season at Silverstone and finished the race in 12th position.

Fernandez expressed his good fortune in avoiding the collision at the first corner and being able to continue.

"I’m pleased because the most important aspect for me at the moment is that I already have a sense of the bike's capabilities. Now, we just need to clock more miles and gain a deeper understanding of the bike – I need to discover its limitations."

Earlier today, I nearly made it into the second qualifying session with the 2024 RS-GP for the first time.

During the Sprint, my speed was fairly good. I chose a soft front tire to keep up with the group and better understand the bike's performance. However, I ended up riding alone at the back of the pack.

Clearly, I aimed to perform at my highest level during my recovery and managed to secure 12th place by the end of the race, which I believe is quite commendable. I covered a significant distance on the bike, gained substantial knowledge, and have already determined my tire selection for Sunday.

"All in all, I'm quite pleased with this bike because it allows me to ride near others and pass them more easily, which is fantastic."

Fernandez faced a challenging race, and Trackhouse did not earn any points in the 10-lap sprint. Miguel Oliveira finished in tenth place, just missing out on a points-scoring position.

Oliveira attributed his inability to fully optimize the current RS-GP package to issues with the electronics.

Discussing his experience on Saturday at Silverstone, Oliveira stated: "The initial attempt in Qualifying didn't go well, and although the second attempt was better, I was still two-tenths of a second short of making it to Q2, which resulted in me qualifying once more in the fifth row."

"I began the Sprint with a strong performance. Luckily, I avoided any mishaps at the first turn, even though it was a near miss."

"At that point, I began to experience a significant loss of rear traction and couldn't make any progress. I adjusted all the settings, but it still wasn't sufficient to stay on pace with Maverick Vinales and Jack Miller."

"It was incredibly frustrating because I felt I was performing quite well, but I was hindered by the electronics being so heavily engaged in traction control that I couldn't make any progress."

"I’m aiming to make progress since we made some positive adjustments to the bike, which helped me increase my speed a bit today."

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